The Terrible Tea of D
by Enaty
Summary: Can kami be sick? Well, the Count has fallen ill, and he desperately needs some of his infamous tea to cure him. But by accident, a wrong ingredient finds its way into the mixture and D starts hallucinating about Leon. Or is he?
1. Prologue

The Terrible Tea of D

So, everybody, welcome to my second try at an PSoH-fanfiction! Disclaimer's as usual, I don't own anything and am just borrowing them for a little after-work-fun (wait. Actually, make that an 'a lot of after-work-fun'. Because, compared to what I do all day long, which is mainly busying myself with lots of broken pottery, this is super-fun, even if I'm damn tired when I write it).

For those of you who don't approve of male-male relationships, go have fun elsewhere. I don't think I actually have to add 'for those of you who are under-age', because this will be pretty tame most of the time. I'm going to give a warning ahead of chapters that will be more explicit, but so far, I think anyone who's older than thirteen, maybe fourteen years, will have read much worse elsewhere… and ah, warnings for Leon's language. I'm sorry, but I just can't picture that guy not using any swearwords. So he's going to use them in this fic, too, and I'm afraid pretty often.

Enough babbling, let's get started with the real thing. I hope you'll enjoy what my wrecked brain thinks up during boring hours at the library, and if you have any comments, any at all, if you like it or hate it or think I should better give up writing for the rest of my life, please tell me so. I appreciate constructive criticism (emphasis on 'constructive').

So long, Enaty

Prologue

„Achoo! Achoo! A-choo!"

"Please, Count! Stop pretending you're healthy and get something for your flu!" T-chan pleaded, both exasperated and worried. The kami appeared behind a silken handkerchief, usually bright discoloured eyes dimmed by the sickness.

"Perhaps you are right, T-chan," he admitted hesitatingly. "But I don't understand – I've never been ill before…"

His voice trailed off, thoroughly confused. "There's a first time for everything," the totetsu snorted. "And now you are. So get to bed, I'll bring you some tea."

Grumpily he watched the Count disappear behind the curtains that led to the inner rooms of the pet shop, relieved that at last he seemed to listen to him. The last few days had been a constant ordeal to get D to bed before what had started as a simple cold turned into something much worse. Mulish as the Count was, he'd at first not even acknowledged that there was something wrong with him.

T-chan sighed and set out to prepare some herbal tea for his master while Pon-chan whirled around him, chattering. "Do you think he'll be all right soon?" she asked, also worried. Since the Count had been so insistent that he was healthy, they'd had some pretty bad days. He constantly tripped over something or started to sneeze when he was preparing food for them or had dizzy spells while he was treating a pet. In short, it had been a horrible week trying to prevent him from killing himself by accident. They still weren't sure how they had managed some of the nastier situations, but they didn't think too much about it. Important thing was, they were still alive. All of them.

"I do hope so," the totetsu answered his little friend and set up a kettle. Then he heard the bell that announced a visitor and swore. "Damn, we forgot to lock the shop! Pon-chan, keep the Count in the back, I'll see that he leaves immediately."

Storming out, T-chan missed her confused look. How should she keep the Count from the customer? Surely he'd already heard the bell and was on his way. He'd never let his sickness get in the way of business, as they'd painfully learned during the last week.

Sighing, she hopped off in search of the Count, hoping that perhaps they were lucky and he hadn't noticed the customer.

#

"Really, as if I was a child!" D grumbled and sat down on his bed heavily. Looking around his bedroom, he sighed again and slumped a little. Okay, so he wasn't feeling all that well, granted, but that was absolutely no reason for T-chan to boss him around like he was his master and not reverse!

"I should stop favouring him," D muttered and knew that he wouldn't. He liked the totetsu far too much, even if he felt miffed now. Leaning down on the bed, he put an arm over his aching eyes. Even the dim light in the pet shop hurt these days. Perhaps he really needed a break. Perhaps he'd really worked far too much lately. But what was he supposed to do? He needed the work. It kept him too busy to have a mind for other thoughts…

Was that the bell?

D sat up again, suddenly alert, and listened. His head swam dangerously and he groaned as he steadied himself with a hand on his bedpost. When he could see clearly again, he concentrated on the room in the front, but felt nothing. Still, he had to check. If there was a customer, he'd have to see to him, sickness or not.

Standing up, it took him another thirty seconds until he stopped swaying enough to make his way to the door. Carefully he walked through the dimly lit corridors, trying not to trip over something like he'd done so enthusiastically the last few days. Sometimes he even had to use the wall to keep himself upright. At a crossing, he stopped hesitatingly. Usually, he'd use the right corridor. It was much faster, but was also near pitch-black. Perhaps, in his current state, only not to worry the pets, he should take the longer, better lit way.

And so he did, missing Pon-chan only by thirty seconds, who'd taken his usual route.

#

Arriving in the kitchen, D noticed that the kettle stood on the hearth, water boiling, while T-chan was nowhere in sight. Had he not been so exhausted simply by walking here, he'd have called for the totetsu to read him the riot act. What if the kettle set the shop on fire by accident?

He peered into the front room, but could see no one there. Perhaps his ears had played a trick on him.

But as he was here now, he could as well prepare his tea himself. There was this special recipe, if he remembered right, that his grandfather had used to cure ill pets. If it was good for the pets, why not for him?

Walking like on egg-shells, D went over to his cupboard and opened it, taking the ingredients out. Then, without warning, his vision blurred again. Quickly D closed his eyes, trying to stay on his feet and grasped the small bottle without looking. With it in his hand and his other clenched around the doorframe, he waited until the dizziness ceased. Only then did he walk back to the kettle again and mixed the various herbs together, his head still a little fuzzy.

But he managed to prepare the tea. Satisfied he looked at the steaming liquid. _So, T-chan, you still think that I'm not able to take care of myself?_ he triumphed silently. Then he heard the front door open and the totetsu enter. His steps were unmistakeable, only his claws made that special scratching sound on the carpets of the shop.

#

The totetsu was grinning contentedly, baring his sharp teeth. He just _loved_ to scare humans, and this one had squealed particularly nice. But his grin faded when he faced the Count. "What are you doing here?" he nearly screamed. "You're ill! I told Pon-chan to keep you in bed!"

"Where is the customer?" D inquired icily, not even deigning to answer the totetsu.

T-chan visibly shrank back. "There – there was no customer," he stuttered uneasily, but the Count knew when he was being lied to.

"T-chan, I do not approve of you scaring my customers away." His voice was deadly silent. The guilty shrank even more.

"I – I am sorry, Count. But you're so ill and I – we – you shouldn't be disturbed by those humans!" he murmured.

D sent him another freezing glance, but then his face softened. His pets had just been worried. Though he didn't like it, he also couldn't hold it against them. "I have prepared tea, T-chan. Please pour me a cup and bring it to me," he ordered and sat down. The totetsu obeyed immediately, glad to escape his piercing gaze.

The kami sighed relieved when he disappeared behind the curtain and put his head into his hands. One moment more and he'd have had another dizzy spell.

Once T-chan had given him the cup, he sent him to his bedroom with the pot. He would drink one cup in the front, just one cup. And if no customer had shown up until then, he'd do what the pets wanted and go to bed. Perhaps he really needed rest and hopefully, one good night's sleep would take care of this annoying sickness.

He sipped his tea slowly, savouring the hot liquid's taste. But taking the third sip, he balked. What was that sweet taste behind the herbs…?

He took another sip and swirled it around in his mouth, trying to figure out what it was. He knew it wasn't supposed to taste sweet, though he certainly didn't mind…

Had he by accident put in a wrong ingredient?

Shocked, D tried to remember frantically what the little bottle had contained. He knew exactly what it _should_ have contained. Why hadn't he checked if it was the right one? Which ones stood beside this and what would they do in this special mixture?

He was so busy thinking that he didn't notice the door opening and someone approaching. Gasping with shock, he finally identified the ingredient. _Oh no!_ How could he have been so careless? He had to leave for his bedroom immediately before something bad happened…

A heavy hand was laid down on his shoulder. "Hey D, you bastard! I knew I'd find you!" a familiar voice said. Letting out a shrill shriek, the kami shot up and whirled round to face the one he hadn't wanted to see ever again.

"Detective!" he gasped and clenched the chair's back. "This really is a most unfortunate moment to visit me!"

Leon's eyes widened at these harsh words from the Count and his brows drew together. "Yeah, that's just like you fucking bastard!" he spat. "I travel around the whole world in search of you and all you've got to say to me is that I chose a bad time to visit? You know what? Fuck you!"

The room started to blur in front of D's eyes. He grasped the chair harder. "I did not mean to sound harsh, Detective. It is just…"

His voice trailed off as his eyes widened, too. A thought had occurred to him. This was Tokyo. Surely Leon hadn't been able to trace him to here. But that meant…

That meant the hallucinations had already begun.

And that was the Count's last clear thought before everything went fuzzy and funny.


	2. First Chapter: Hallucinating, Take 1

Wow. Guys, I'm seriously impressed o.O How could anyone in their right mind resist such an invitation? Don't worry, Kayi, volkodlak and allroads-etc, there's more of this, because actually, I've got some chapters done already… Anyway, I do hope that I won't become some kind of disappointment. flinches

Leave me a review and tell me if you've liked Chapter One! If you find any mistakes, grammar or spelling, please let me know.

So long, Enaty 

P.S. Uh… Actually, I do have a life… Only problem is, it never stops me from thinking up weird stories, and if I don't want my head to explode because of them, I have to write them down… -.-

Hallucinating, Take 1

"D? Hey, D, what's the matter?"

Surprised by the Chinese's reaction, Leon stepped back to him and carefully laid his hand on his shoulder again. The man looked positively stunned!

The second his hand touched D's shoulder, the kami came back to life. A happy smile appeared on his face. "Detective! What a pleasant surprise!" he twittered.

Leon's mouth fell open. _Wait a moment, wtf? First he tells me this's a bad time to visit and then he's delighted to see me? Something's fishy here…_

_Not that there ever was something _not _fishy with this pet shop. Or D, for that matter._

"Oooooh no, Count, not this time!" he stated and drew back carefully, D following close, beaming. Leon's mind raced. "What are you up to now, D? I won't do anything for you this time, okay? I just came by to yell at you a little, understood? No funny experiments, no rescuing pets or something like that."

D's smile was almost blinding, though he seemed even paler than usual to Leon. If he didn't know better, he'd have said D looked _ill_. But that couldn't be. Gods didn't fall ill. That was against the laws of nature.

"Of course not, Detective! I do not intend to force you to do something you do not want to do. How could you even think such a terrible thing?" The blonde glared and didn't respond, but D was oblivious to his reaction. "What about a nice cup of tea and a little chat? We haven't seen each other for such a long time!" he chirped.

Leon cleared his throat. "Yeah, not that that was my fault, you know. You just took off without any explanation or accommodation address."

"I am so sorry, my dear Detective. Do you have a special wish for tea? I've got those herbs you liked so much."

D whirled around Leon in an almost female manner, chattering all the time. It made the blonde feel really uncomfortable. That wasn't the D he knew. Silently he wondered whether he'd been wrong and stepped into the pet shop of another D. As far as he knew, everything was possible with this family…

#

Growling under his breath, T-chan set down the tea set with a loud clink, though he was careful not to shatter any. It wouldn't do if the Count got angry with him for ruining his china, not in his momentary constitution. T-chan wasn't as dumb as his master obviously thought he was. He'd noticed how hard D had to try to stay on his feet.

"Really, I wish there was someone to make you listen to him!" he grumbled and then startled. He sniffed, thought and sniffed again. What was that sweet scent underlying the herbs in the tea…? It was not something he would put into that mixture…

Leaning closer, the totetsu carefully drew in a breath. His nose twitched at catching the faint sweet scent. He closed his eyes, searching his memory for this special scent.

Abruptly his eyes flew open and he whirled around, breaking into a full run. "Count!" he yelled. "Count, don't drink the tea! Count!"

Running down the dark corridor, he nearly slammed into Pon-chan. "Where's the Count?" he asked, breathless, but continued running. The little racoon followed him.

"He was in the front room just a moment ago, drinking tea!" she panted. T-chan swore again and increased his speed.

#

"Really, Detective, it _is_ my pleasure to have you here!" D affirmed and offered Leon a cup of tea. The blonde took it, sniffed suspiciously and took a careful sip. _He's on something, I'm sure. Or he's not D._

Again he cast a searching glance at the smiling Chinese, but there was nothing wrong with him so far. Long, beautiful cheongsam, mismatched eyes, silken black hair – it was all D, and yet, it was so _not_ D that he felt a chill down his spine. His behaviour was… odd, to say the least.

And now he scooted a little bit closer to him, still beaming. "Do you like the tea? It's a special mixture," D explained, too delighted to notice the blonde's visible discomfort. "I made it from all the herbs you like."

"Yeah, uh, that's – nice, D. Really. Good tea," Leon mumbled and eyed the ever shrinking distance between the two of them. When had D ever sat beside him instead of opposite, he wondered and couldn't recall one occasion. Something was off here, really off.

"I missed you, Detective," D whispered and averted his discoloured eyes, thus shaking Leon from his reverie. "Uh?" he stuttered, not quite sure if he'd heard right. D's pale cheeks blushed. It looked sick somehow. Like the blush was too much colour for this pale face.

Leon was seriously considering if D had fallen ill. Even laws of nature could be broken, couldn't they?

And now he was even scooting closer!

Helplessly the detective watched the small space between them vanish. A slender arm was draped around his shoulders and D was whispering in his ear. "I am so glad you searched for me, Detective. It makes me most happy."

A small noise came from Leon's throat, too weak to be even heard. Frozen to ice, he waited for the things to come, for there was nothing else he could do.

#

T-chan skidded through the kitchen and ripped open the curtain that separated it from the front room, hurrying in. "Count…" he started to say, but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight in front of him. His teeth-spiked mouth fell open. Incredulously he gaped at his old enemy, Leon Orcot, sitting on his usual place on the couch. But that wasn't what made him almost squeak in disbelief.

No, it was the fact that before his unbelieving eyes his master was caressing the frozen detective, who seemed quite unable to move. The Count, apparently, was neither aware of Leon's state nor of the interruption. He kept whispering into Leon's ear and threading his small hand through his blonde hair.

The totetsu made a little sound, something between a whimper and a weak squeak.

Leon abruptly woke. "You!" he yelled and jumped up so fast he nearly knocked D down. The Chinese looked at him pouting.

"Detective, what's the matter? Why do you leave me?" he complained, but the blonde wasn't listening. He pointed at the totetsu, quivering with anger.

"You damn goat-thing, it's your fault that Chris's unhappy!" he growled.

T-chan snapped back into normal mode and bared his teeth. "As if I'd had a choice!" he snarled.

Leon strode over until they stood face to face, measuring each other with glares. "I'll kick your damn ass for that, bastard!" the blonde hissed. D stood up, swaying a little in the process, but the two opponents didn't notice. They were too busy trying to stare each other down.

Determined D made his way over to them and tried to position himself between them. "Please, Detective. T-chan, behave, Leon just arrived!" he wanted to soothe. The enmity was thick in the air. D felt his head swim. He stumbled a little and steadied himself with his hand on Leon's shoulder.

"Let me go, D, I've got to do this!" the detective commanded. T-chan growled in reply.

D's eyes rapidly lost focus. "There's absolutely no nee…"

His eyes turned upwards and he collapsed.

"D! Hey, D, what's the matter? D?!" Quick-witted Leon snatched D's sagging body and prevented him from falling to the floor. His eyes were close and he was pale, so pale, even in the dim light in here. The blonde immediately forgot his revenge. Carefully he picked the Count's light body up. "Where's his bedroom, T-chan?" he demanded.

The totetsu snapped out of his shock. Wide-eyed, he gestured to the back. "In there. I'll show you the way. Fast, please!" he pleaded and held the curtain open for Leon.

In the kitchen they met Pon-chan, out of breath, who squealed in fear at the sight of D's lifeless body. "Count, what happened?" she cried.

"He collapsed, I think he's unconscious. Calm down, Pon-chan, please. Get us some cold water, would you? We're taking him to his room."

T-chan felt a jealous pang at Leon's calm, commanding tone. He'd taken control of the situation and he was doing well at it. _Later. You can eat him later when the Count has come to his senses again. Now first take care of him._ he told himself.

They made their way through the dark corridors, Leon swearing every once and again at the darkness in there. But when they reached the bedroom, he laid D carefully down onto the bed and drew the covers over him. "He's still unconscious," he stated and looked at T-chan.

He stared back. "What? I'm not the human here. I don't know what to do with unconscious people," he shot back and Leon's face went red.

"D's no human, so how am I supposed to know what to do with him?" he snarled. "Why did he faint in the first place, anyway?"

Now it was T-chan's time to shift uncomfortably. "He's ill," he murmured.

"He's ILL? And you're letting him sit there in the shop and drink tea?"

Leon's glare was both unbelieving and accusing. He was worried about D. He didn't know what to do. So he took the first chance at letting off steam that was available.

Unfortunately the totetsu had never been one of his favourites.

"WE didn't let him do anything!" the tiger-goat snapped back. "WE're trying to get him to stay in bed since a damn WEEK, but HE wouldn't!"

"Why don't you just make him, then? Hell, he could have a pneumonia or something even worse!"

"Well, YOU go and try make him, asshole!"

"Leon…"

The soft murmur from the bed startled them. Forgetting their fight immediately, they hurried to D's side. His eyes were still closed and he was shifting uneasily.

"I'm here, D, it's alright. I'm right here," Leon soothed and took D's hand, only to drop it again quickly. "Shit, he's hot!" he swore. "He's got high fever. T-chan, do you have a doctor here?"

The totetsu stared at the human. "A _doctor_?" he echoed. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, I guess that's a no," the blonde murmured and threaded his hand through his hair. "Shit. I don't know any Japanese. Well, not enough to call a doctor anyway."

T-chan stiffened. "We wouldn't let him in, so don't you even try!" he threatened and Leon shot him an annoyed look.

"Well, any ideas as to what to do now then? Because I've got none, except cold water and bed rest."

The totetsu gnawed at his lip. "That's everything we can do for now," he said hesitatingly. "And if it gets worse – well, if it's really bad, I know how to reach Sofu D…"

Leon held up his hands. "Whoa, make slow! D's not dying yet. Before we call in that ass of a grandfather, we'll make sure we've tried everything else."

"Okay," T-chan conceded. He'd liked Q-chan. But he wasn't so sure what to think of Sofu D. Anyway D hadn't seemed to be that fond of his grandfather lately, so he guessed it might be better to keep him away if possible.

Pon-chan chose that moment to appear with a bowl of cold water and some towels. "How is the Count?" she asked anxiously. Behind her some of the other pets trailed in, looking confused and worried. Leon sighed and looked at T-chan. The totetsu returned the glance. Silently they made a deal.

"Thank you, Pon-chan. He'll be alright again, I think. Please, if you're inside, be quiet, okay? We'll do our very best," Leon announced and placed the bowl beside D's bed. "Let's get to work, T-chan."

#

They shooed the other pets out of the room again, with the exception of Pon-chan who was too afraid to be left outside. T-chan made her sit down beside the Count's head and listen if he said anything. Then he and Leon stood before the bed and stared at the shifting kami.

"Well, I guess we'll have to take off his clothes first," the blonde said hesitatingly. T-chan glared. "Hey, I only know what my mom taught me, and I know that calf packing is antipyretic. But to do that, you've got to be – well, not clothed," he defended himself.

The totetsu gave the matter due consideration and finally nodded. "Okay, that sounds reasonable to me. I'll hold him and you'll take his clothes off."

"Why me?"

"Because you're much more used to taking someone's clothes off," T-chan snapped and Leon looked hurt.

"But not with men!"

"Well, you're the one always going on about the Count looking like a woman and wearing dresses. So stop behaving like a baby and undress him!"

The blonde still pouted, but climbed onto the bed. After some mêlée they found out how they could peel D out of his clothes without hindering each other. Pon-chan watched them, giggling in spite of the serious situation. It was just too funny seeing the two enemies sweating with their task.

"Okay, so now where're his nightclothes? Does he even have some?" Leon asked and threw the elaborate cheongsam on the floor. D would have a fit at seeing this. But unfortunately he couldn't, because he was still unconscious. Leon himself considered this maltreatment of the _thing_ as a just revenge for being such a fuss to take off.

Besides, he really wondered how the Chinese could stay so unimpressed by all this. If someone would take off _his_ clothes, he'd wake up no matter how high his fever was, he was pretty sure of that.

T-chan pointed to the wardrobe. "In there, I think. But I thought you wanted to make calf packing."

"I do," Leon said from the depths of said wardrobe. "But those are just on the chest and the legs. And he still should wear something, even if it's only a nightshirt, just to keep the rest of him warm. Something nice and easy to take off if we have to change it. Ah!"

Smiling triumphantly, he appeared again, holding white silk in his hands. "That should do for now," he said satisfied and came over again. Quickly they dressed D's limp body in the light silken pyjamas. Funnily enough it was a much easier task dressing him than undressing him had been. Probably this was due to the fact that the pyjamas didn't have so much little hidden closures, Leon mused.

"Now we need two wet towels and two dry ones," he ordered. This time Pon-chan helped them putting the calf packing on D. He still made no sound.

Stepping back, the blonde admired their work. "Now that should do something about the fever," he thought aloud. "But I really hope he wakes up again soon. Do we have something to drink in here if he does? He should drink a lot."

They busied themselves with setting out a carafe of water and some light food, if D felt like eating when he woke. T-chan left and prepared some herbal tea, this time carefully selecting each ingredient. He still wondered if D had noticed. He _had_ to have noticed. But on the other hand – the totetsu couldn't explain his strange behaviour towards Leon otherwise.

If D thought that the detective was a hallucination caused by the wrong ingredient, what would he do once awake again?

T-chan sighed and rested his head against the cupboard. What was he supposed to do now? Would Leon stay if they asked him to? Should he explain before something strange happened? Or should he just hope that the Count was too ill to really remember anything?

#

While the totetsu in the kitchen was torn between conscience and antipathy, Leon mulled heavy thoughts, too. Supporting his chin with his hands, he sat at D's side, waiting for the kami to open his eyes again. Hell, he could even yell at him for maltreating his damn dress, if he wished to! He just should wake up…

"You're the most stupidest idiot I've ever met," Leon told him, somehow hoping that D would wake and start their usual bickering if he just insulted him bad enough. But nothing happened, and to be honest, the blonde hadn't expected anything else. He laid a hand on D's sweaty forehead, feeling how hot the Chinese was. "Never thought I'd see you do something so human as sweat," he murmured, but even this comment lacked its usual spirit.

The room was so silent, now that T-chan had left and Pon-chan been sent to inform the other pets. Leon leaned back and looked around, taking in the chamber. This was the first time he'd ever been to D's bedroom, but honestly, it was much as he'd imagined it. Curtains and silly furniture everywhere. There was a big wardrobe in one corner, from which he'd taken the pyjamas.

A regretful glance was sent at the cheongsam on the floor. Well, it didn't look like D would wake up soon… and besides, if they had to change the calf packing, it would be in the way…

Sighing deeply, Leon stood and stuffed the cheongsam into the wardrobe, not caring that the delicate silk got crushed in the progress. Having done so to his satisfaction, he looked around the room. D's bed really was big. There was enough room in there for at least three.

Involuntarily Leon grinned as he imagined D using all that space in the big four-poster bed. "Bet you'd just use it to cuddle your freakin' pets. What a shame," he told the kami and went to him again. Taking a washcloth, he carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead. At least he'd stopped shifting and was now sleeping, if Leon's speculation was right. Hopefully, it was. Otherwise D would be dying.

A shudder went down his spine, cold and disquieting. "I'll tell you what, you die before I had my chance at yelling at you and I'll hunt you down, even if I've got to go to hell to find you!" he told the sleeping man gruffly. D showed no sign that he even heard Leon's voice. His breath was shallow and very quiet. The blonde almost had to put his ear to his mouth to even hear it.

Well, there wasn't anything he could do than wait until D woke again. He couldn't fetch a doctor, there was no doubt that T-chan would eat him the second he stepped into the shop. And asking Sofu D was out of the question. As long as Leon was in this room, there was no chance in hell that D's grandfather would be in here, too. At least not alive.

Thinking about the shop, Leon remembered something. He cast a last worried glance at D, wondering if he could leave him alone. But he couldn't do anything right now other than wait. Sighing, the blonde stood up again and wandered the room restlessly, wishing Pon-chan would return. He could leave D to her and see if the shop was locked.

Then clinking in front of the door told him T-chan had returned from the kitchen, bearing a tray with food and tea. He opened the door and silently stepped aside to let him into the room. Uncomfortable silence stretched while the totetsu set out the dishes. Leon didn't know what to say or do, so he just watched.

Having set out the dishes to his satisfaction, T-chan stood, carefully avoiding Leon's eyes, neither wanting to start the conversation. The blonde's mood darkened even more. _This is silly. We've got to work together, at least until D's well again._

He cleared his throat. "I just wanted to check if the front door is closed," he mumbled. "When I came in, it was open."

T-chan slowly looked at him, apparently remembering. "Yes, the Count left it open. He was hoping the customer would return."

Leon's brow wrinkled. "Return?"

Then he got it and grinned. "Bet he wasn't too happy you'd scared him away, was he?" he teased the snarling totetsu.

"He'd just gone to bed. I didn't want him to be disturbed, but he forgot to lock the door and she came right in."

Leon's grin widened. "Yeah, of course. Well, then I'll see to it that the door's closed for today. Do you have a sign or something I can put on the front?"

T-chan shook his head. "No, the Count ripped it yesterday by accident." Seeing the blonde's unbelieving glance, he growled. "He wanted to close the door and it was in between. So what? Those things happen, even to the Count."

_He must be seriously ill if something like that happens to him._

Leon didn't voice his thought, but his favourite enemy got it all the same and averted his face. "He wouldn't listen to one thing one of us said," he murmured apologetic. Again silence fell, only disturbed by their breaths.

"Well, then we've got to write a new one, I guess." Thankfully T-chan looked at the blonde. Perhaps Leon was more sensitive than he'd thought.

"But you've got to write it," he told the detective, who looked positively horrified at the mere suggestion.

"I've got to do _what_? Are you crazy, T-chan?! I can't even write my own letters so that someone else can read them, much less Japanese!" he declared and the totetsu snorted, forgetting his short friendly feeling for him at once.

"Yeah, that I believe. Americans are so –"

"Don't you dare say it!" Leon snarled and they glared at each other.

"Can't you two ever stop fighting?" Pon-chan asked from the door tiredly. "The Count's lying ill and you're screaming at each other right beside his bed! That's just the way he'll get well again!"

Guiltily both human and totetsu looked at the raccoon and edged away from the bed, sending glances to the still sleeping Count. "He didn't wake up!" T-chan pointed out and Pon-chan snorted and glared.

"Your luck! Now get out, you two, I'll watch him while you get the shop closed and everything," she commanded. They sidled out like beaten dogs.

Sighing, Pon-chan settled into the bed beside the Count and mused if T-chan and Leon would be able to keep their truce at least until he woke again. She really doubted it.

#

"Well, that doesn't look too bad. A little inexpertly, perhaps, but it's at least readable," Ten-chan smiled at Leon who stared at the brush in his hand with disgust.

"Geez, why can't you just use a biro like normal people?" he lamented. Unimpressed by his sulking Ten-chan took the sign and went to the door. Leon followed, muttering some not very nice things about people who used a brush to write instead of something _common_. Something preferably _American._

The fact that some million people used a brush to write he simply ignored.

Once at the door, he cast a look around. The street was almost deserted. It had rained heavily earlier the day and now, it was wet and cold, not very inviting outside. Since D's shop was in a relatively hidden part of the city, only a few passers-by were on their way, hiding in warm coats and not looking up to see the blonde American poking out.

Leon fixed the sign on the door and shut it behind him, turning the key in the lock. "That should suffice," he said and looked at the nine-tailed fox. He grinned at him.

"So, that means you're staying overnight, I guess?" he asked slyly. The blonde's cheeks went red.

"Well, someone has to see that you freaking things don't kill D," he snapped and went back into the front room.

Ten-chan followed. "Don't you have any luggage?"

"Over there," Leon answered and pointed to a battered duffel bag near the entrance. He'd set it down there when he'd entered the shop and forgotten until now. "That's all I need."

Ten-chan didn't look convinced, but he kept his thoughts to himself and sat down on a chair. "And where do you plan to sleep, if I may ask?" he inquired. Leon waved his hand around airily. "Here, I guess. I'm used to sleeping in chairs, that's no problem. Most of the time I'll be taking care of D anyway."

"I don't think the Count would be very pleased if we offered you nothing more than an uncomfortable chair when you're doing him such a service," the fox murmured and sent a pointed glance at T-chan, who'd just entered and was about to open his mouth, no doubt to say something.

Instead of insulting Leon, the totetsu announced, "Dinner's ready!"

The American lit up immediately. "That's great! I could eat a horse!" he declared. Then he looked at T-chan confused. "Who's with the Count?" he asked.

"Honlon and Pon-chan are with him, Detective," Ten-chan soothed and quickly helped T-chan to put the dishes on the table. It was not elaborate food, nothing like D would've offered Leon. They'd only managed to prepare some sandwiches. Another consequence of D's illness had been that he'd lost his appetite almost completely. There was not much human food in the shop right now.

But Leon didn't mind. He'd always been one for fast food. Hungrily he took one and savoured it. "That's great!" he said, mouth full. T-chan snickered. Luckily the blonde was too busy eating to notice. "I've had nothing since I boarded that plane to Tokyo," he told Ten-chan who looked genuinely interested. T-chan disappeared into the back again. He didn't want to eat around Leon, and not only because the detective would most certainly not approve of his food.

Once the sandwiches were gone, Leon sighed and stretched. "Okay, Ten-chan, let's get back to the Count and change his calf packing again. Hell, I don't even know how long they're supposed to stay on him."

He missed the weak look the pets present gave him. That was just like Leon, always having a good smattering at his command.

Still, they all followed him back to the Count's bedroom where Honlon and Pon-chan already waited for them. Even the three-headed dragon seemed depressed. She welcomed Leon with a wet shimmer in her eyes. "Will he get well again?" she whispered and looked at the sleeping Count. Leon looked at her confused for a moment. He didn't remember this girl and couldn't think which animal she'd been.

But then he abandoned the thought as his gaze followed her glance and he had to admit that it didn't look too well. He hadn't woken yet and the blonde wasn't sure whether he was unconscious or sleeping. Both seemed likewise possible.

But he wasn't here to spread a bad mood. So he put a brave, confident smile on his face and gently shooed all pets out of the room. "I'm sure he'll be all well and up again in a few days. He's just sleeping his fever off. So go to bed now or whatever you sleep in. T-chan and I will stay with him, don't worry."

Ten-chan stopped in the doorframe and looked back at Leon. "If you need anything…" the fox said hesitatingly and he nodded.

"I'll call you, Ten-chan. Now just send T-chan over, please."

The nine-tailed fox left with the others, gently closing the door behind him. Leon was again alone with D.

"Hey, you gonna sleep forever, snow-white?" he murmured and sat down on the big bed, placing a hand on D's forehead. Feeling the heat, he silently swore. "Damn, we've got to get that fever down! Don't worry, D. We can do that. Just hold on, okay? Just hold on."

T-chan arrived, looked into Leon's face and they set to work with grim determination.


	3. Second Chapter: Fighting

Hey there!

You know, I wouldn't mind spending so much time online if I didn't happen to have exams this week -.- Because that's what my 'real life' is made up of at the moment. So I could well be persuaded to just keep on writing. Only problem is, my parents probably wouldn't be too happy about that… sigh

Okay, I won't complain further. It's not like anyone's interested in it anyway (not even me). So for everybody not interested in answers to reviews, please see below, the next chapter starts there 

To Kayi: is that an 'If you've already got them done, why in hell don't you get them online as fast as possible?!' Because if yes, then I've gotta tell you they're not yet perfect, at least, as perfect as I can make them. And as I am a perfectionist, I don't want to post anything I'm not happy with. I know. I'm cruel :-P (or perhaps just silly…)

To everyone else who has left a review: Thank you very much! Please feel free to comment on anything you notice, whether it is grammar, spelling, character display or something else. Especially the OOC or not OOC would be interesting for me…

And now have fun with the next chapter :-) So long, Enaty

Fighting

Leon honestly couldn't have said how many hours he hadn't slept. His eyes kept closing constantly, but he forced himself to stay awake, just in case. The pet shop had always made him loose his sense for time, but never had he been as pissed by that fact as he was now. He'd no idea how many hours he and T-chan were fighting now to keep the fever down. He didn't remember how often they'd changed the calf packing. Surely some hundred times. But the fever was persistent. And D wouldn't wake up…

Again his head sagged onto his chest and collided with the teacup Leon held in his hands. Swearing, he climbed from the bed and poured himself another cup. The tea was black and strong, and though the American would've preferred coffee, it kept him awake.

"Yeah, and you can sleep!" he grumbled in the direction of the totetsu, who was sleeping on a cushion. They'd decided to give D a break with the calf packing and took turns sleeping. Of course they could've asked the other pets to take over for a while, but by some unspoken agreement, they didn't even talk about that possibility. The only thing they allowed them to do was change the cold water regularly and bring in food and new tea. Neither really knew why. But now that they'd ensured no one could enter the shop (or leave it, for that matter), they felt like they couldn't leave D's side.

Except for those frequent interruptions, they were completely alone. They and D, doing nothing more than breathe a little. Other than that, he was completely still. He didn't budge, had completely stopped shifting and was limp in their arms when they had to move him to change the packing. And he still didn't wake, no matter what they tried.

His head was sinking again. Leon swore and crawled out of the bed clumsily to keep his weariness in check by moving around the room. Not that he could take in much. He simply was too tired to really notice what the paintings showed. He didn't even feel like rummaging through D's wardrobe anymore like he'd planned to earlier, giddy and goofy with fatigue and curious if there was at least one thing in there that was not silken or dressy.

When the walking wouldn't help anymore, he knocked T-chan up. "Your turn," he grunted.

The totetsu yawned and stretched. "Okay. You want another pillow?"

"Nah." Leon shook his head. "I'm alright with that one. Just gimme something to cover me with."

T-chan obliged and took his watch-post beside the Count's bed. He heard Leon rummage around in his duffel. Casting a curious glance back he saw that the detective had obviously decided to sleep in his jeans. "Won't that be very uncomfortable?" he commented.

Leon stopped and stared at him. "None of your business," he grumbled low in his throat. T-chan turned back and hid his smile from his glare.

"I'm just saying. I won't eat you if you get undressed. And if I wanted to, your jeans would surely not present much of an obstacle. The Count won't see you anyway. So why don't you make yourself comfortable, Detective?"

A few seconds passed. Then he heard the zipper of Leon's jeans and the human settled down, sighing relieved. Within seconds he was asleep, now leaving T-chan to his thoughts.

#

Staring down at the pale face of his master, the totetsu again mused about what to do with the American. Should the pets make him leave the shop before the Count woke again? But what would he say if he could? Would he remember Leon being there or would he regard him as a hallucination? And whom should they call if they kicked Leon out?

Sighing, T-chan rubbed his forehead. "Count, please wake up!" he pleaded silently, knowing that nothing would happen. The kami was lying there like a statue, only the light movements of his chest indicating that he was yet alive.

He cast another glance at the sleeping form in the back. Okay, so he had been wrong about Leon. He'd acted without a second thought, left everything aside to help the Count. After working with him for more than fourteen hours now – T-chan never lost track of time in the shop, his perception not clouded like Leon's – he even had to admit that they made a good team somehow. They didn't need many words and they didn't talk much. In fact, the little exchange of words just had been their first talk for about the last eight hours. And even tough T-chan had slept five of them, that wasn't much, considering they usually quarrelled all the time.

That meant, if Leon wasn't quarrelling with the Count.

"Why're you so damn mulish?" the totetsu asked his sleeping master, bolder than he would be if he could actually listen. "We _told_ you you'd kill yourself if you kept working so much!"

"Not that you'd ever listen to us," he added after a few seconds, sniffing offended. "But Leon arrives and you're suddenly all happy again and well and damn, _what did you think hitting on him like that_?"

Once the words had left his mouth, T-chan balked, biting his lip. His eyes widened as he recalled the words.

Once.

Twice.

But not even a third time changed anything and he admitted defeat, burying his head in his hands.

"Damn you, Count, tell me that's not true!" he groaned. "Tell me I'm wrong. Please!"

D didn't answer. He probably hadn't even heard the totetsu, who raised his head from his hands and glared at his master openly. "That's just like you, you know!" he ranted. "At first you allow him to come to your shop all the time, inviting him to tea, taking care of his brother, helping him all the time – and then you rescue him after he killed your _father_, push him off the ship, run away from him and when he finally manages to find you again, you insist on drinking hallucinogenic tea and falling ill. Damn, if you wanted to fall in love with someone, why not at least someone with some manners? What do you think you're doing? Your kind's not even supposed to _like_ humans, let alone fall in love with them!"

The kami slept on, lost in his feverish dreams. T-chan jumped up and paced the room fidgety.

"Well, I'll give you that it's at least not the Romeo&Juliet-story until now, but still, what do you want to do about it now that he's here? You know Leon as well as I do and he won't budge before you're well again, I'll take any bet on that. He's set his mind on taking care of you and he'll do it, come hell or high water. He's as mulish as he's stupid, as we all know very well. And then? When you wake again, what will you do? Gods, I just hope the herbs'll have lost their influence by then!"

If D heard his totetsu raging on, he decided not to pay him any attention. Eventually T-chan got tired with scolding and sat down again, casting another glance in Leon's direction. Fortunately, the detective was about as fast asleep as the Count.

"Damn, Count, what a mess!" he murmured and put his head in his hands again. "What a mess…"


	4. Third Chapter: Waking

Heigh-ho…

I do really hope I haven't scared everyone away with the last chapter… I won't excuse for it, not for the content and not for the length, which was, I admit it, very short. And I guess it wasn't quite what anyone expected. I do, however, hope at least some people enjoyed Tetsu's and Leon's musings. Thanks for the reviews to everyone! :-)

And also thanks for the good wishes, Anabel. While I'm at it, I've gotta tell you I absolutely loved Moonlight Cantata, and as soon as I can find the time, you're getting a review for it.

To Kayi: Well, as long as I'm provoking your greed, that's fine with me :-) Not gonna tell you how many, though… some things a girl's gotta keep secret ;-) Thanks for your review and thanks that you like my T-chan!

But for now, please go ahead and have fun with the third chapter, in which the Count will do a little more than just lie there and sleep… (at last g I was getting bored with the guy just laying there. Really, can't he get his own bed?! My room isn't outfitted to taking care of sick people… And having Leon in here all the time wasn't doing much for my learning process either, I can tell you!)

So long, Enaty ;-)

Waking

His eyes stemmed against being opened. He retried, but still everything he saw was blackness. Pulling together all his strength, D made a third attempt at forcing his lids open, and this time, he succeeded. Disoriented his gaze rambled over the ceiling of his bed. Distantly he wondered how he'd come here. The last thing he recalled was standing in the shop, trying to soothe someone… but who had that been…?

A few moments passed as he willed his head to clear. At last he managed to remember that it had been T-chan who'd fought with someone else… a voice sounded in his head… "_Hey D, you bastard! I knew I'd find you!" _

His head felt like splitting any moment. Groaning, D lifted up his hand to cradle his spinning head, but was disturbed by a tired "What?! D!"

His hand fell back onto the covers. Someone beside him moved and he turned towards the person with great difficulty. Before he could finish this task, Leon was hovering over him, looking at him with worried eyes. "Damn, D!" he exclaimed. "Man, you scared the hell outta me, you bastard! What did you think, working when you're ill and supposed to be in bed?!"

He wanted to answer, he really wanted, but his throat felt like corded up. He only managed a little croak. Leon's face softened. "Don't speak. Wait, I'll give you some water."

He disappeared and D heard him rustle and rummage around. Another voice sleepily announced the presence of the totetsu in his bedroom. Again D wondered what the matter was, his mind declining him any answers. The pets usually weren't allowed in his bedroom. But now T-chan was here and he was here with Leon. This had to be a dream. Those two never would manage to stick to peace.

Now the totetsu appeared in his view, too, looking relieved. "Count! We thought you'd never wake again!" he breathed, a load falling off his shoulders obviously. "Shall we get you anything?"

He managed to shake his head, but Leon wouldn't take that. "You've got to drink, D," he ordered. "You were unconscious for hours and you had high fever. You've gotta be absolutely dehydrated."

He climbed onto the bed, followed by T-chan. The kami watched in astonishment while he made declining noises. It almost looked like they were used to doing that.

Because both insisted that he drank something, he bowed to their will. But to his embarrassment he was too weak to sit up himself. Leon carefully slid his arms around his waist. "Don't worry, D, we know how to do this. Just lean against my shoulder and we'll have you up in no time," he murmured into his ear.

A flush painted D's cheeks red and he was relieved that Leon had wrestled in behind him so that he couldn't see it. T-chan, however, noticed, but kept silent. The kami made a silent note to question the totetsu about it, but he immediately forgot again. His head was just too dizzy.

Propped up against Leon's chest and carefully held in place by his strong arms, D managed to sip a little tea, urged by his two nurses. The simple action of gulping tired him to no end and when they at last were satisfied with the amount of liquid he'd drunk he sank back with exhaustion. His eyes closed again, though he really tried to keep them open. But they wouldn't do what he told them to.

The last thing he noticed were Leon's arms guarding him back into the covers. Then the world went black again.

#

"Now that went quite well," Leon said contentedly and smiled at the once again sleeping kami. "Don't you think so, T-chan?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Yeah. At least he woke," the totetsu answered somehow absentmindedly, also looking down on his master. Leon wrinkled his brow, but decided not to interrogate. He felt tired to the bones and every muscle in his body ached from sleeping on the floor. Sniffing a little, he also wrinkled his nose.

"Yuck, I've got to take a shower. T-chan, do you have any bathrooms in the shop?" he inquired and added, "You know, showers where there won't be any animal that might want to bite or eat me."

The tease was a mere formality, just said to keep the routine. Consequently the totetsu didn't even deign to answer and instead pointed to a curtain. "Over there. It's the Count's bathroom, but I don't think he'll mind you using it," he told Leon, who looked not quite convinced. But after a flight from America to Tokyo and 20 hours of constant watch his need for a thorough cleaning was too urgent to object. He fetched fresh clothes and his other utensils from his duffel and disappeared into the bathroom.

T-chan watched him go with a lopsided grin. "No, I don't think the Count'll mind you in his shower," he murmured half worried, half amused. Then he climbed from the bed and went to the door. Ten-chan was keeping watch in front of it. "He just woke," the tiger-goat informed the fox whose eyes lit up.

"He did? How's he feeling?"

"Not too bad, I should guess. He's already asleep again. But he drank a little and I think we've survived the crisis."

"And Leon?"

"Is taking a shower. In the Count's private bathroom."

T-chan couldn't quite keep the grin out of his voice. The nine-tailed fox mirrored it. "Yeah, just what I am thinking, too," he said softly. The other looked at him in surprise and caused a chuckle. "I may not be a human, but I've lived amongst them long enough to notice certain – signs. And I am able to put two and two together."

They were silent for a short moment. "It's not possible, of course," T-chan then said.

"No, it is not," Ten-chan agreed. But his eyes sparkled secretly.

#

The next time D woke, he already felt much better, though his head was still fuzzy. The only thing that irritated him was the wetness he felt at his legs. Both suspicious and unbelieving he tried to pull away the covers to see the source of the moisture there. But his strength hadn't fully returned yet and all he managed was to entangle himself in the sheets hopelessly.

A chuckle made him look up right into amused sky-blue eyes.

"Don't worry, it's just a calf packing to reduce the fever." Leon rose from the cushion pile he'd sat upon and strode over to the bed. Disentangling the sheets, he freed the kami from his silken prison and showed him the towels that were wrapped around his legs. "See? Nothing to worry 'bout. How do you feel anyway?"

The Chinese tried to speak, but found that he wasn't yet able to. So instead of talking, he nodded and smiled a weak smile at the detective. His mind raced at his sight, trying to tell him something, but he couldn't focus on what it was. So he just chose to ignore the strange feeling that he really needed to remember something… that it was important that he remembered it.

"Here, have a drink." Leon handed him a cup and this time, D was able to take it and sip the tea, sighing gratefully. He felt positively drained.

As if the blonde was able to read his mind, he voiced his thoughts. "No wonder you're thirsty. You slept another seven hours since the last time you woke and then T-chan and I weren't quite so successful at making you drink."

He poured another cup and D sipped again, savouring the hot liquid. Though he couldn't taste anything, he was quite sure that this was the herbal tea his grandfather used on sick pets.

Something else stirred in his mind. _Herbs… a dizzy spell… a cup of tea in his hands and a strange taste in his mouth…_

Seeing D rolling his eyes in an attempt to concentrate, Leon took the cup from his hands and forced the kami back into the covers. "You still need a lot of sleep, D. Your fever isn't quite gone yet and the more you sleep the better."

The familiar voice soothed D's confused spirit enough to let himself be overcome by a pleasant weariness. He closed his eyes, still feeling Leon's hand on his shoulder. Lost in the fuzzy zone between wake and sleep, images popped up in his mind. He and the detective in the shop, his arm around the blonde's shoulder… T-chan and Leon yelling at each other… Leon's arm around him… and again and again, a cup of strangely sweet tasting tea…

#

_The room in front of him suddenly started to blur. Grasping the chair harder, he tried to steady himself. Tried to keep standing. Tried to explain to the detective. _

"_I did not mean to sound harsh, Detective. It is just…"_

_Something popped up in his drugged brain. This city. This was Tokyo. Still, Leon was here. But how was that possible?_

…_or was it even possible?_

_His head swam, his vision was blurred. _

_I am in the pet shop. Leon is here. We are in Tokyo. I drank some tea. I put a wrong ingredient in my tea. It causes hallucinations. _

_Leon is here. We are in Tokyo. Leon is here. Tokyo. Leon. Tokyo…_

D tossed around in his bed, trying to wake and knowing that he couldn't. He remembered now. He remembered that he'd gone to the front room and sat there, drinking tea. Drinking the tea in which he'd by accident put one of the ingredients that he usually used in the incense. It was not poisonous, but instead of clearing the sight for the other world when inhaled, it caused hallucinations when digested. He'd drunk the tea and then Leon had appeared.

The kami groaned painfully. _It is a hallucination. Leon is not here. I dreamt. He wasn't sitting beside my bed and he wasn't taking care of me with T-chan. How could I even believe that? Leon and T-chan?! I've got to be more careful in the future…_

With a last gasp, he sat up in his bed, taking in the familiar bedroom with wide eyes. There was no one to be seen, not T-chan and, of course, neither Leon.

A regretful sigh heaved up his chest and he clenched his hand into the collar of his pyjamas. His eyes went empty and sad. _It was just a dream…_

The sound of a door opening to his right made him start. Turning quickly, he gaped at the figure emerging from his private bathroom, towelling his hair absentmindedly. A small squeak escaped D's throat.

It was loud enough to get the person's attention. Incredulously the Count stared at Leon, who smiled and dropped the towel unheeded. "D! You're awake! Damn, you really scared the shit out of us all. We thought you were gonna peg out for sure sometimes."

His mind reacted automatically. "Please mind your language, Detective," D said and continued staring at the human. _Am I still dreaming? Has the tea not lost its influence by now?_

His head spun again, but not from sickness this time.

Leon smiled good-humouredly and went to his duffel to take out a fresh T-shirt. "Yeah, quit that Detective-shit, D. I've spent the last three days at your bedside, or better, _in_ your bed. There's no need to stay all formal," he told D in light tones and missed the sight of an open-mouthed Count.

_This is a dream. I am still under the influence of the herb. _

When there was no answer from behind, Leon turned and looked at the kami questioningly. "D? You okay? Do you still have fever?" he asked concerned. But the Chinese was smiling at him brightly, a true, real smile.

"No, my dear Detective. Pardon me, my dear Leon. I am quite well," he answered softly. Leon gazed at him confused, but then shrugged and turned to the door.

"Well, if you're feeling good enough, I'll call T-chan for breakfast. Or rather, dinner, outside it's near evening."

He left, leaving behind a smiling Count. "Yes, do so, Leon," he said gently. Well, well. This herb was more powerful than he'd anticipated.

Not that he minded in the least.

#

D was still considering all the possibilities this unexpected development had provided him with when he heard noise from outside. Pulling off the covers, he tried to stand up, only to find that his legs wouldn't support his weight. Apparently his sickness had left him weaker than expected, too.

"Geez, make some room in here!" he heard Leon's voice outside. "You're gonna send him right back into unconsciousness if you insist on assailing him all at once!"

The noise faded somewhat and D listened, amused, to his dear detective's attempt at calming down the pets and installing some kind of order. While he was still at it, the door opened a crack and Tetsu swished in, carrying a tray with several dishes on it.

He walked up to the bed and smiled at the Count brightly. "I'm so glad you're all right again," he told D and pecked his head to the side a little disapprovingly when he noticed that he was halfway out of the bed. "Please, Count, you just woke up. Be careful," he pleaded.

For a split second the kami considered reprimanding the totetsu. But as there was no doubt that he had taken care of him during his sickness, he let it slip for once. There would be other opportunities for telling him off.

"Who is taking care of the pets?" he asked instead and slipped back under the covers. A pillow served as a backrest.

T-chan regarded him with a strange look. "We did quite well on our own, don't worry, Count. We took care of everything," he answered, avoiding any straight answer. But D was satisfied.

"That was very good of you all," he praised and regarded the food the totetsu had brought him. "How long was I ill?"

"Since you collapsed, about three whole days," the totetsu answered and sat down on the bed naturally. Another little thing D would have to take care of, but not right now.

He chose a light vegetable soup T-chan had prepared and delicately took a spoonful. Only when the liquid filled his stomach did he notice that he actually was starving. Not surprisingly, he faintly recalled that he'd last eaten more than five days ago. His sickness had left him with disgust for any kind of food. But now his body claimed his right.

The totetsu smiled contentedly when he noticed that the Count was eating with enthusiasm. He stood and went out again, leaving him to his meal. Leon probably needed help; the pets were almost crazy to see their master again.

Indeed he found chaos outside the room. The pets were quarrelling about the order in which they were to visit the Count. Leon stood in the middle, besieged from all sides, helplessly trying to calm them down. Ten-chan was no help either, he was gasping with laughter beside the American.

T-chan took his chance at slipping to his friend's side unnoticed by the blonde. "What are we to do about Leon?" he murmured in his ear.

The fox stopped laughing and turned his mischievously sparkling eyes to the totetsu. "Wait and see what he thinks," he answered softly. "I'd take Leon inside and see how the Count reacts to him. If it's the usual 'dear Detective' and all, then he's probably remembered and knows that he's no hallucination. If not, well, then –" Ten-chan shrugged.

"You'd leave him with the illusion that Leon's not real?" the tiger-goat asked incredulously.

"Yes. Why not? If the worst comes to the worst, we can still make Leon leave very quickly. I've no doubt that he wouldn't even mind leaving very fast then." His eager face told T-chan that his friend did not at all think that the worst case was something they'd have to expect.

Still, he bristled. "But what about the rules? What about the Count's own kind? What about his grandfather?"

The smile the nine-tailed fox now gave him was both mysterious and knowing. "Just let the things slide, Tetsu. Trust me. Just for once, let the things slide."

#

When the door opened again, D wasn't at all surprised to see both Leon and T-chan enter. He set aside his bowl and smiled at them. "Well, have you decided about my visitors?" he inquired, amused that his pets would resort to human hospital customs.

"Yeah, I think we've figured out a way to let all in," Leon answered. At least, D heard the hallucination of Leon answer. This herb really was fascinating. It made the illusion seem so _real_. He almost could believe that his detective was standing there in front of him, talking about the order in which the pets would come in.

He didn't get much of what the hallucination (or rather, T-chan, whose voice he interpreted as Leon's) was saying. He was too busy admiring the detective's strong body, his bright blue eyes and his for once relaxed smile. It seemed that the herb did not only have a relaxing effect on him, but also on the things he envisioned. What unexpected possibilities!

The kami concentrated on his pets when they started to come in little groups, reassuring them that he was already feeling better. It wouldn't do if he started to talk to an imaginary Leon in front of them. Obligingly the hallucination chose to sit in a corner of the room and watch in silence. When D cast it a quick glance between two groups, he noticed that she seemed to be asleep.

He chuckled. This was perfect.

#

Both T-chan and Ten-chan were watching their master closely during the pets' visit. They noticed the hidden glances at Leon and his total ignorance of the man as long as there were pets in the room. But when they went out and brought in a new group, he was openly staring at the human, admiration and wonder visible on his face.

"He really thinks Leon's a vision," T-chan murmured into Ten-chan's ear while the cats were populating D's bed, the purring so loud that their whispers completely drowned. The fox's mouth twitched.

"Good thing that he's asleep, otherwise he wouldn't be so easily ignored," he answered and tried not to laugh. Oh, he just _loved_ to play tricks on people, even if they happened to be his master.

The totetsu shifted uncomfortably. "I've still got a bad feeling about this," he said, worried. "We can't just pretend not to notice Leon. He'll go crazy. And if we don't ignore him, the Count'll get suspicious. Anyway, why are you so insistent that we let the things slide?"

"I've got my reasons," Ten-chan answered mysteriously. T-chan sent him a questioning glance, but by the way the fox's face had set he could discern that nothing could force him to reveal his reasons. Sighing, he caved in.

"But if it fucks up, you're responsible, understood?"

Ten-chan nodded with gleaming eyes. "I'll take full responsibility."

T-chan really couldn't think of one sentence that had ever made him more suspicious.

#

The pets were all gone. Even T-chan and Ten-chan had left the room. D sat in his bed, a little exhausted, but also happy. His pets' worry about him made him feel content and at ease with the world.

And then, there was the man still sitting in the corner of the room on a pile of cushions, seemingly fast asleep.

Carefully, D climbed out of his bed and went over, standing in front of it and admiring it quietly. It was so perfect. If he closed his eyes, he could even smell Leon's very own scent, well and truly human and still so enticing. Hesitatingly he extended his finger and touched the blonde's face, giggling at his own reluctance. It was, after all, a hallucination. A vision created by his own imagination. That meant that it would probably react as he wanted it to, didn't it?

The young kami delighted in the feel of the skin beneath his fingertip. It was a little rough where Leon hadn't shaved carefully enough, but even that only sent a pleased shiver down D's spine. Since when had he longed to touch his human this way? And how long hadn't he allowed himself to even think of his Leon?

For a second, his face clouded. Yes, that had to be the reason that he'd caught a cold. He'd worked too much lately, trying to escape the persistent memories of Leon. He'd seen no other way to shake off the moment he'd pushed the human off his ship. Only when he'd seen him fall did the full impact of what he'd just done crash down on him.

But he wouldn't make that mistake again. As long as the hallucination lasted, he'd take his chance at the "What if". He'd take his change at loving Leon.

D was not one to give in to emotions. So now when he felt them grow stronger in his heart, he forced himself loose of Leon's image. He didn't know how long the illusion would last, but it was made up of his memories of the detective. Which meant that he still had to be careful. The Leon he remembered wouldn't be too happy if he suddenly started hitting on him.

On the other hand, what did it matter? The hallucination wouldn't last. There was no danger here, not like there'd been in real life.

Still, there were his own feelings to be taken into consideration. And D certainly didn't want them to have one wild night, so to say. He wanted to take things slowly, to let them happen gradually. Even if this was only a hallucination, he wanted the memory to be a good one. Hopefully it would last long enough. And even in case it started to fade before, he could always take a little more of that herb. Hell, if he'd known it would have that special effect, he's long since taken it!

D wandered around the room, feeling his legs grow steadier with each step he took. Only his constitution seemed to suffer from the last effects of the sickness. He had to stop every few steps to catch his breath. But that really didn't matter.

Beside the door to his private bathroom there was a little pile of clothes. D wrinkled his brow. Who had dared…?

Then he recognised them and smiled. Leon, of course. How could he assume otherwise?

There were his old, bleached jeans he usually wore if he wanted to be comfortable. That was one of his favourite shirts, bleached by many, many washings. D sent a glance at the sleeping man and looked back at the pile of clothes thoughtfully. He'd always wanted to know why the detective preferred them to silk…

At first he giggled at his own thoughts. But then, there was no one here except the hallucination. What could possibly go wrong?

Carefully he took up the jeans and one of the shirts, wrinkling his nose a little. Those hadn't seen a washing machine in some time, but as long as the smell was only Leon's, he could put up with it.

The giggle bubbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. This was so childish, really! Like a kid dressing in his father's clothes to see what it was like. What would his father say – his grandfather!

He could just imagine. But for once, he didn't care. They would never know.

Sitting down on his bed, the kami took off his pyjamas and slipped into the shirt first. It was, of course, far too big for his slim body. Still, it felt okay. Not really as nice as his silken cheongsams, but nice enough.

Giggling the whole time, he struggled into the jeans, laughing outright when he discovered that he had to hold them up so that they didn't slide down to his ankles. The legs also were too long, but that was to be expected. Leon was a good twenty centimetres bigger than he was.

Standing up and holding the jeans with one hand, he steadied himself at the bedpost and took a few steps, body trembling with laughter. He hadn't intended to, but it woke the man who'd slept through all the noise the visiting pets had made.

The blonde sat up, rubbing his eyes and glancing around disoriented. Then he noticed the slender figure with far too big clothes at the bed and quickly rose. "Hey, what are you doin' here – D!"

Incredulously Leon stared at the kami, who'd turned at the sound of his voice and now looked – caught? guilty? embarrassed?

It was a mixture between all of those. For a moment the view took away Leon's breath, it was just so _absurd_. But then he noticed D holding the waistband of the jeans and the way the tee lopped around his slender frame and burst into laughter.

"Well, I guess that means you're really fit again," he gasped and sat down involuntarily, holding his sides. "Oh my, D, has anyone ever told you that you look just weird in western clothes?"

At first the Count had looked hurt at Leon's reaction, but now he smiled and carefully made his way over to where he was sitting on the floor, bare feet stepping on the hem of the jeans. "No, in fact, no one was ever able to tell me that," he answered with mischievously twinkling mismatched eyes. "For the simple reason that I have never worn anything else but Chinese clothing. Congratulations, Detective, you are present at a premiere."

"Those aren't quite your size, really!" Leon chuckled and plucked at the hem of the tee. "Maybe you should buy ones in your size if you want to wear western clothes."

D smiled warmly. "Thank you, Leon, but I don't think I will. I prefer my own clothes."

"Well, but you're not looking that bad in those," the blonde mused and took a more critical look at the Count. He let himself be scrutinized and even turned a little so that Leon could see his backside.

"One or two sizes less and you'd look good," Leon finally reached a conclusion and yawned widely. "Sorry, D, didn't have that much sleep myself the last few days."

"You need not excuse, Leon," D told him softly. "You've been taking care of me the whole time. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am for that."

Leon grinned lopsidedly and waved it aside. "Well, if you don't mind, if you're feeling alright again, I'll go and take a nap."

D quickly hid his disappointment behind a smile. "Of course I don't mind. Where do you sleep?"

"Uhm… to be honest, I don't know where to sleep," the blonde confessed and looked somehow embarrassed. "I mean, T-chan and I slept here the whole time, we took turns at watching you. But we had to be here, because we had to change the calf packing regularly. So I just – well, I slept here." He thumped on the pile of cushions beside him.

D's eyes widened. "But my dear Leon!" he exclaimed. "Really, that was – you should have taken a room. To think that you slept on the floor…"

He looked positively horrified at the mere thought. Leon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I didn't sleep that much anyway. And if I was just taking a short nap, I stayed in the bed."

That caused the kami's eyes to become even bigger. "You – you slept in _my_ bed?" he echoed weakly. "_Beside me_?"

The American looked up at him awkwardly. D's cheeks were flushed and his fist clenched the waistband of the jeans. "Ye-ah," he said carefully. "I'm sorry, T-chan didn't object, and, well, it was just easier that way…"

Noticing his discomfort, D shook himself and showed him a bright smile, though his heart skipped a beat. Or two. Or maybe even more. _He slept beside me… he slept in my bed… he slept beside _me…

"Don't worry about that, Detective," he quickly calmed the blonde, resorting to the more formal approach. If he called him Leon now, he would blush even more and that would be noticeable. "I don't mind. As you said, it was for the best this way. And I was unconscious anyway."

Leon smiled again and stood, groaning a little. "Well, okay, then I'll just go to the front room and make myself comfortable on the couch. And you should get to bed, too. Perhaps you're feeling better at the moment, but we don't want you to relapse, now, do we?"

"But I am feeling well," D protested and stumbled beside the detective, silently cursing the too big jeans that hindered him. "If you want to, you can use my bed again. I've got to see to the shop anyway."

Leon stopped and stared down at him. Then he laid his hands on his shoulders and guided him back to his bed, forcing him to sit down gently. "No, you don't. T-chan, Pon-chan, Ten-chan and I've seen to everything and everyone in here. You're recovering. That means you're staying in bed at least one more day. And then we can talk again, understood?"

"Yes, Detective," D conceded meekly. His legs weren't as steady as he'd thought. But perhaps that was due to the fact that Leon had been very near while guiding him back to his bed.

Either way, he felt like doing what the human said. Leon smiled appreciatively. "Okay. Then sleep well, D. I'll be somewhere in the shop. See you later."

He strode to the door and left, leaving D behind who snuggled into his bed with Leon's clothes still on.


	5. Fourth Chapter: Recovering

Hi guys!

I can't believe how time is flying… well, probably no wonder, since I was pretty busy doing my exams last week. And one never has enough time when it comes to exams, really. -.- But at last, I'm done. Finally!

Anyway, thank you for your reviews! Anabel, please don't die. You won't get to see the end of this if you do… ;-)

Kayi, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked them all, because truly, I try very hard to make them IC and I don't always know if I'm succeeding. Don't mind the smirk. People will think you're crazy, but what do they know? -g-

Thank you, too, Demon Goddess. I rather liked the idea of D in Leon's clothes, too -g-

No time to waste, guys! Have fun with the next chapter :-)

So long, Enaty

Recovering

Leon woke with a start, due to a happily screeching raccoon hopping up and down on his stomach. "The Count's well again! The Count's well again!" Pon-chan screamed at the top of her lungs and bounced off his stomach onto T-chan's back who knelt on the floor, setting out the low table.

"Get off of me!" he snarled and tried to grab her, but the small animal was too quick for him.

"The Count's well again!" she sang and hopped off into the kitchen. The totetsu stared after her with disgust. Then he turned his head and saw that the blonde was awake. For a split second they grinned at each other weakly, sharing the same thought.

Then, realising who it was they were smiling at, they averted their gazes and quickly busied themselves, T-chan again with setting out the dishes and Leon with fumbling away the covers. He yawned and stretched. "Geez, I feel like I've slept for days," he mumbled and winced at the pain in his neck. "Okay, this thing's not as comfortable as it looks."

"I told you, you could have your own bedroom," Ten-chan remarked from the other side of the room and appeared, bearing a tray with food. Setting it down before Leon, he smiled. "The Count is not yet awake, that means, if Pon-chan didn't wake him."

The American looked down on the tray critically. "Nothing else left, huh?" he asked and the fox shook his head.

"I'm afraid you'll have to go and buy food if you and the Count don't want to starve. But that can wait until you've had breakfast."

The blonde took a bite and craned his neck in search of a clock. "How late is it, anyway? Are the shops still open?"

"On the contrary," Ten-chan answered and made himself comfortable on the couch. "It's still too early for them to be open. They won't open for another half an hour."

Leon stopped eating and stared. "How long did I sleep?"

T-chan scratched his head. "About thirteen hours, I guess," he answered. "But the Count did, too. He only woke once and took a shower, then he went straight back to bed."

"Sounds like he's alright again," the blonde observed, mouth full. The pets sighed, but chose not to object. After all, Leon had just rescued their master. More or less.

Once he'd finished breakfast, the American insisted on going shopping. Pon-chan and Ten-chan were chosen to accompany him, as he for one didn't know where anything was and second couldn't speak one word of Japanese. They left, Pon-chan hanging on Leon's arm, babbling happily. T-chan watched them go a little grumpily. He would've enjoyed shopping, too, but someone had to stay here.

He'd just retreated to the kitchen when he heard the Count enter. Turning, the totetsu was favoured with a bright smile. "Good morning, T-chan. I hope you're rested now," the kami said and moved on to the kettle with tea. T-chan gulped.

"Do you want something to eat, Count?" he asked and hoped that his voice didn't quiver. But to his relief, his master shook his head. "No, thank you, not yet."

The totetsu noticed the quick searching glance D cast around. _He's looking for Leon._

"Uh – why don't you go visit the pets, Count? If that's not too much for you, I mean," he hurried to say and the Count pecked his head to the side, distracted from his search for the human.

"That's a good idea. I'll just check on them. If you see Pon-chan and Ten-chan around, will you tell them where I am?"

"Sure thing, Count." He watched the kami leave and heaved a deep sigh of relief.

_First hurdle taken. Only another few hundred ahead._

#

Before D started his round through the shop, he quickly went to the front door and opened it a crack. The weather wasn't too bad, a little clouded perhaps, but at least not cold. He smiled at the new day and closed the door again, nearly shutting in a little sign as he did so.

D balked and looked more closely at the sign. Hadn't he ripped his sign Tuesday night closing the door? He recalled a dizzy spell and the sharp noise of ripping paper.

But there it was. A white sign with the Japanese equivalent of 'Closed' on it. The letters looked a little wiggly, but there was no mistaking it. Had Leon…?

Shaking his head, D smiled at himself. Of course Leon couldn't have written this sign. He was a hallucination after all. Hallucinations didn't write signs. He'd probably written the sign himself and just couldn't remember, because he'd been half asleep or something like that. Gods knew he'd not been in shape lately.

Shrugging the incident off, he went to the back of the shop and started visiting his pets

#

Leon, Pon-chan and Ten-chan arrived back at the shop a good two hours later, laden with food. T-chan had been pacing the front room worriedly and shot round once he heard them on the stairs. "Thank god you're here!" he assaulted them at once. "He's awake!"

Leon dropped the bags on the couch and smiled. "Well, why are you so agitated by that? Isn't that a good sign?" Surveying the shop, he added, "Where is he?"

The totetsu noticed his mistake and bit his lip angrily. "Of course it's a good sign. I'm just worried he'll overstrain himself," he snapped. Leon wrinkled his brow and started to respond, but Ten-chan cut him off.

"T-chan, why don't you help me taking those to the kitchen?" he asked and handed the totetsu a bag. They vanished behind the curtain while Leon and Pon-chan stayed in the front room, sorting out their shopping.

Once they were safe out of hearing distance, Ten-chan turned to his friend with blazing eyes. "I thought we agreed not to let Leon know that the Count takes him for a vision!" he hissed and T-chan glared back.

"I _know_! Sorry that I forgot for a second, but I was in a cold sweat all the time since you left! The Count woke and searched for you three. I barely managed to send him on a check through the shop. I can explain that you're not there, but how am I to explain a not appearing hallucination if I'm not even supposed to know about it?!"

Ten-chan sighed and rubbed his ears. "Okay, I'm sorry, T-chan. I didn't mean to snap. This is going to be very difficult. We've got to keep Leon or us out of the room, if we don't want him or the Count to notice."

"What about just telling him what the matter is?" T-chan suggested.

The fox shrugged. "What do you think he'll do? What do you think he'll do if the Count makes a move?" he asked and looked at his friend who caved in.

"Okay, I don't know. But sooner or later Leon will notice. He's not that dumb, even if he takes his time."

Ten-chan sighed. "Yes, he will. But hopefully until then we'll know what the Count feels for him for sure. And – well, if Leon doesn't feel the same, then it's probably for the best if he leaves anyway."

#

"Yes, I assure you, I am alright," D smiled at the cats and scratched a Ragdoll behind her ears. She purred loudly.

"We're so glad, Count!" she said and snuggled against him. "We were so worried, and nobody told us anything!"

That was probably not true. The kami couldn't imagine that T-chan, Pon-chan or Ten-chan would leave the other pets in doubts about his condition. But he knew that cats tended to feel left out if they weren't in the middle of events, so he didn't say anything.

The door behind him opened and Pon-chan hopped on his back. "Count!" she squeaked. "I'm so glad you're alright again!"

He chuckled a little and cuddled the little racoon. "I am glad, too, Pon-chan," he said softly. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, ah, I was – uh, I was with Ten-chan," she stammered and pointed behind her where the nine-tailed fox was just entering.

"We were playing and lost track of the time," he hastened to explain. D's furrowed brow cleared and he smiled. "I see. Well, you deserved a break after caring for me these last days."

He missed the relieved look in the fox's eyes and turned back to the cats. "I am in the front room if you need anything," he told them and stood up gracefully, brushing the hairs off his cheongsam.

"Wait, Count, we want to go with you!" a black cat cried and jumped down from the pedestal she was sitting on.

The kami was surprised. "Why, Leona? You need not worry about me, I am fine. There is no need to accompany me; your room is much quieter than the shop."

The cat's eyes twinkled. "We don't want to look after you, we want to watch…" she started and then meowed painfully. Ten-chan sidled away, pretending not to have stepped on her tail. She spun round and hissed at him. He returned the hiss with bared teeth. D quickly intervened, though he was thoroughly confused. His pets were truly acting strange.

"Ten-chan, excuse!" he said austere. The fox bowed his head.

"I am sorry, Leona-chan," he murmured, but sent her a warning glance through his eyelashes. The cat turned her back to him and sulked. D shook his head. It was time he took over again. Apparently things hadn't gone as smoothly as he'd assumed during his sickness.

With Pon-chan still in his arms, he turned towards the door. "Ten-chan, come with me, please. Leave the cats alone."

The other cats watched them go with glinting eyes. The Ragdoll strolled over to Leona and grinned. "Be more careful, honey," she advised sweetly. "It seems our dear fox is very insistent on the Count not knowing about Leon."

The black shot a nasty look in the direction of the leaving fox. "He may be, but I wonder what he'll say when the Count finds out!" she hissed.

#

T-chan was already busy with cooking when they arrived in the kitchen again and just pointed to the teacart, where a steaming pot was sitting. D sighed gratefully. The tour through the shop had proven to be more of a strain than he'd thought. Really, being sick wasn't funny at all. Everything went chaotic.

Glancing around, he noticed that the hallucination seemed not to be here. He wondered how it worked. Was it present when he wanted it to be present or did it follow its own rules like the real Leon would?

This way or that, he was glad that it was not here right now. He wanted to spend as much time with it as possible while it lasted, and he couldn't just start talking to thin air in front of the pets. They understood a lot, but even they would think it strange if he started to behave as if Leon was here.

Ten-chan broke into his thoughts. "Count, what about the shop?" he asked. D startled.

"I don't know," he said slowly. He hadn't thought about the shop until now. About the pets, yes, about how to conceal his condition from them, about the hallucination, but not the shop itself. If he was well again, he had to open it, otherwise his grandfather would be most displeased.

But surely grandfather couldn't hold it against him if he still felt a little weak, could he? He'd worked the last two years almost constantly and before, too.

T-chan turned and looked at his master, who seemed lost in thought. "I don't think you should open the shop right away," he announced, looking stern and even a little bit angry. "You've been sick the whole last week. You were unconscious for almost three days. I say, keep it closed at least another two days."

"Yes," Pon-chan chimed in. "You're still recovering, Count. Q-chan can't want you to die because you work so much!"

That made the Count smile. He bent down and picked her up. "Pon-chan, I won't die because of a little fever." Seeing the faces of his pets grow worried and angry, he quickly conceded. "But you are right. I will take a few days off. T-chan, would you bring the tea to my bedroom? I think I shall rest a little bit."

He placed the raccoon on the table and left the kitchen. Ten-chan grinned. "Well, that was easier than anticipated," he said to the others. "Now we at least don't have to worry about customers coming in and greeting Leon. The cats are warned not to mention him and the others won't, either."

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea," T-chan murmured and set the tea on a tray. "Neither the Count nor Leon are deaf. Especially the idiot won't be happy if he's being ignored half of the time."

The fox's eyes gleamed. "Why, T-chan, I never noticed you're so concerned for what Leon likes or not!" he teased his friend who snarled.

"I'm not! But what if he starts to object?"

"The Count will think that it's his own imagination," Ten-chan soothed and added, "Where is Leon, anyway?"

The totetsu turned back to the food he was just preparing. "I showed him Chris' old room," he murmured. "He's got to stay somewhere and I wasn't sure if the Count would think of it. He can't sleep in the front room the whole time."

Pon-chan and Ten-chan exchanged glances. "How did you do that? I couldn't convince him to take a room," the fox asked astonished.

T-chan grinned, showing all of his teeth. "I've got my techniques of convincing someone, Ten-chan," he said mysteriously. "And not even Leon can resist them."

Both of his friends regarded him somberly. It seemed that the most difficult task wouldn't be to keep the other pets from betraying their play, but to keep T-chan and Leon from slitting each other's throats in front of the Count.

Now that would really prove that Leon was real. Hallucinations usually didn't bleed.

#

"Hey D, you in there?"

A knock on the door and Leon's voice caused the kami to snap out of his sugar-induced happiness. His mood brightened even more. Half and half he'd feared that the hallucination was gone again. "Come in!" he quickly called and smiled when the blonde stepped inside. He regarded the laden tea-tray weakly.

"D, sweets aren't quite the food recovering people should eat," he pointed out. Invitingly D patted the cushion to his left.

"Sit down, Leon. Do you want some tea?"

"As long as there's no sugar in it," the American said and sat down beside D at the small table. "Where did this come from, anyway? I didn't notice it in here, and I've spent almost three days in this room."

"Oh, that's one of the rather handy sides of the shop," D told him lightly and poured tea. "It provides you with what you need."

Involuntarily his eyes went to Leon's chin and he chuckled. The blonde blushed. "What?" he growled. The kami extended a finger and lightly touched Leon's cheek. He startled and pulled back at once. "D!"

Again D chuckled. "I am sorry, Leon," he said with twinkling mismatched eyes. "But I think you really need to shave."

Leon blushed even more and felt his chin, too. "Oh. Yeah, guess you're right. Wasn't quite my priority the last few days."

"I assumed as much," D conceded and sipped his tea. "But now I am well again and there is no need for you to neglect yourself. Anyway, have you decided what to do now?"

Leon, still busy with his stubbles, stopped. "Weeell," he stretched. "No, not really. I just – well, I just came over when I found out you're in Japan. Original plan was to scream at you a little, kick that damn tiger-goat's ass and fly back. But then you were ill and all…," he shrugged.

D set his cup down. "Why don't you stay for some time?" he asked. "You don't need a hotel, you can stay here in the shop. I will show you Tokyo, in return for your efforts." His face was open and friendly, for the first time Leon could remember. He stared for a moment.

"Well, if you say so…" he said hesitatingly. "T-chan has put my things in Chris' old room and told me I was to stay whether I like it or not."

D raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, that's why I'm here. I was gonna ask you anyway if that's alright," the blonde added hastily and the kami chuckled.

"Dear T-chan, always so considerate," he murmured, eyes twinkling mischievously. "I'm sorry he wasn't friendlier, but of course you are most welcome to stay."

Leon shrugged. "I'm used to it," he said and grimaced. "At least he didn't bite me this time."

There was another knock on the door. They looked up. "Come in!" D called and the subject of their conversation entered, looking gruff.

"The snakes are in an uproar," he told them and looked straight at the Count. "Don't know why, but the cobra and the mamba are ready to fight. Ten-chan's trying to calm them down, but so far all he's managed is to stay alive."

"Oh dear!" D stood at once, not even looking at Leon. "I'm coming, T-chan. Where are they?"

"In the snakes' room," the totetsu answered and D was about to leave. Leon looked taken aback.

"Hey, what about me? Can't I help?"

The Count hesitated and didn't answer. T-chan, sensing his dilemma, quickly went out. Only when he was in the corridor did D turn back to Leon with a bright smile. "No, thank you, Leon. But the snakes are difficult to handle and though they know you, they would be irritated by your presence. Please stay here and wait for me, will you? I'll be back as soon as possible."

The blonde sat down again, brow wrinkled in confusion. "Okay," he said and watched the kami disappear.

Something was still off with his behaviour. Leon just couldn't put his finger on what it was yet.

#

When D returned sometime later, Leon was standing in front of a big picture that showed a dragon, hands clasped behind his back. The Chinese smiled and went over to him, looking at the picture, too. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said softly and Leon turned his head and smiled at him.

"I was never a big fan of fantasy and that stuff, but that one is nice."

D smiled shyly at him. "I like it very much, too."

For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then Leon turned away with a sigh. "So, how're the snakes? Did they kill each other?"

D wrinkled his brow. "Of course not, Detective," he said stiffly. "I would never allow them to kill each other because of a silly disagreement."

"Yeah, whatever. As long as they stay away from me, I don't really care."

The blonde flopped down on the cushions again and cast another glance around. "You know, I never thought there could be a worse room than the front room, but it seems I was wrong. Where the hell do you even get such monstrosities?" He pointed to the four-poster bed with a disgusted expression on his face.

D rolled his eyes and sat down, too. "I hope your room is more to your satisfaction," he said icily.

Leon glared. "All I need is a bed and a fridge and then I'm happy. And if anything like that turns up in my room, I'll kill you for sure."

"You didn't care much about my bed while you were sleeping in it," the kami snapped.

"That was different! I was caring for you, not sleeping in there!" After a little pause, he added, "Though it's really comfortable, I'll give you that. And a lot of room, too." His dirty grin told D exactly what he'd use the space for. Unfortunately much the same images floated through his mind, too, but probably with another person.

Leon laughed out loud when the kami blushed furiously. "It's really a shame that so much space isn't used better," he teased and snickered. "Bet all you do in there is cuddle your freaking pets. What a waste!"

"Stop laughing!" D snapped and turned even redder. "You and your dirty imagination are really disgusting!"

Instead of going at him for that comment, Leon just laughed louder. "Never thought I'd say that, but judging by the way you just looked, you were thinking pretty much the same!" he teased. D fumed, but didn't dare to say anything. It seemed his expression had betrayed him already. There was no need to push this any further.

Then a thought crossed his mind. His lips curled in a wicked smile and he scooted closer to Leon. Perhaps what he was about to do now would shut the blonde up. And if not – well, D wasn't one to let an opportunity pass by, not when it concerned the hallucination.

Again he placed his fingers on the human's stubbly cheek, causing him to gasp. Before he had time to get away, the kami slung his other arm around Leon's shoulder and bent over him. "Well, Leon, if you think you know my thoughts so well, then what about proving it to me?" he whispered into the blonde's ear and let his lips brush over the other's skin lightly.

Leon's breath hitched. "D…" he began, an uncertain warning in his voice. The kami chuckled and didn't let it distract him. Instead, he caressed Leon's cheek with the tips of his fingers, using his nails to make the fine hairs stand on Leon's skin. "Wouldn't it be nice to find out that we seem to have developed the same fantasies about my bed?"

He breathed hotly over the skin and let his hand venture down until it lay on Leon's chest, right over his heart. It was pounding furiously in his chest. D smirked. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, even if he wasn't sure what to do if the hallucination took him for his word.

But he wouldn't have had to worry about that. Leon's bigger hand stopped his just when it was about to explore his belly.

"D, stop that."

His voice was firm, and the uncertainty in it was gone. Quickly D put some distance between them, though something inside him sighed disappointedly. He smiled amiably at Leon, took his cup and sipped. The blonde's eyes were watching him alert, his whole body tense.

D pecked his head to the side and smirked. "What is the matter, Leon? Is something bothering you?" he inquired innocently. The blue eyes narrowed. "D. What was that about?"

That growling voice usually meant that Leon didn't like something at all. D would have to be careful not to anger him too much, though his fingers itched to do just that. Having a real fight with Leon again sounded wonderful. But if he was going to lure him into his bed, getting him angry probably wasn't going to help.

So the kami smiled and waved his hand. "I am truly sorry, Leon, to have irritated you. But I rather think you deserved some punishment for your most incorrect insinuation what I use the space in my bed for," he said fluently. Leon rolled his eyes and his body lost its tension.

"Gods, D, could you just for once cut the crap and talk like a normal person would?" he asked and selected a cake from the tray. D bowed his head to hide his smile.

"Perhaps I will, Leon, if you decide not to use that foul language of yours anymore," he suggested a compromise. It got an unbelieving snort from the human.

Gods, how he'd missed him!

"So, anyway, what lead you to Japan?" he directed the conversation in safer territory. Leon looked up from his cake, chewing loudly. D wavered between being disgusted and delighted. He set for raising one brow and had the satisfaction of seeing the blonde blush. He cleared his throat, swallowed and then started to speak.

"Well, I just did my homework, ya know. Searched the net a little bit, made a few calls…It's not that difficult to get news in times of modern technology, even from countries on the other side of the world."

"I see." D smiled and sipped his tea delicately. Leon's blue eyes followed his movements as if hypnotized. The kami's skin started to prickle nicely. He knew he looked good when drinking tea, but now he made a special effort to look even better and sent a shy glance through his hair. Leon was staring openly. D smirked.

"Why, Leon, one would think you'd have seen me drink tea often enough," he teased.

Leon blushed and cleared his throat again. "Yeah. Uhm… sorry. It's just… seems like we're still in America," he said apologetically.

The kami's smile brightened. "Yes, it is very familiar," he answered softly. "But surely you'll have more time to actually enjoy your tea when you don't have to hurry to work again."

Leon sipped his tea. "Actually, if we were in America, I'd have time, too." He avoided D's mismatched eyes. The kami put his teacup down and searched the American's face.

"My father hurt you so badly?" he asked, voice quivering slightly. "I am so sorry, Leon. I never intended you to be drawn into this whole mess."

"Naah, D, it's okay. I mean, it's not okay that your friggin' father kidnapped me or that he tried to kill me, but that wasn't why I quit my job. I was fine, after a few months. I just didn't feel like joining the force again yet. So I moved to Long Island and worked as private investigator. It's not much money, but it's near Chris and I've got a lot of free time to…" He stopped, stared and blushed again.

Awkward silence settled while both looked anywhere but at each other. "Surely Chris played an important role in making you search for me?" D offered at last, hoping that Leon would say no.

He should've known the human better. He grasped the straw and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Wouldn't leave me alone with it. Always going on and on that he wanted to see you again. You know, he really misses you. He says he even misses that damn tiger-goat of yours."

He rolled his eyes. "I've still got to call him and tell him I found you." Grinning, the blonde added, "Shall I tell him you were so overwhelmed you fainted on the spot?"

D's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare, Leon! It was not you, but my condition that made me faint. Do not think you possess such power over me," he warned. Leon's smile seemed to flicker.

"Course not. How could I?" he murmured and got up. "So, I'm gonna go and get my clothes clean again. Didn't think I'd stay here so long."

"Do so, Leon." D hoped his voice wouldn't betray how disappointed he was. So far, the whole conversation had been going quite well. If the hallucination left now, who could say if it would return? Was he already running out of time?

"See ya later, then." The blonde waved quickly and strode to the door. D watched him uncertainly. What would happen if he made him stay?

Better not to take any risks. Silently he decided that if the hallucination hadn't appeared again in three hours, he would have another cup of special tea. It had worked the first time, why wouldn't it work the second, too?


	6. Fifth Chapter: Shopping

Oh, good lords! I'm late posting the new chapter! o.O Dammit. Guys, I am so, so, so terribly sorry! Should've posted it yesterday, but apparently I forgot. Or better, I confused the date. I hope you'll forgive a beaten student…

Thanks for the reviews, everyone who wrote one! I'm sorry, gotta run again, have to be somewhere (eh. Not even in the holidays one has her peace -.-), so I'll answer them next chapter, okay? Hope you'll forgive me and have fun with this one :-)

So long, Enaty

Shopping

"Has anyone seen the idiot?"

Ten-chan and Pon-chan looked up from their game and at the totetsu who'd just strolled inside their room. "Not since he went inside the Count's room to drink tea, why d'you ask?" the fox answered and wanted to return to the game. But T-chan was insistent.

"We've got to know where he is!" he clamoured. "What if the Count searches him again? Sooner or later he'll notice that Leon behaves like a real person and not like a hallucination."

The nine-tailed fox groaned and rolled onto his back to look up at his friend exasperated. "Do you wish me to enchant him?" he offered with a wicked smile and the totetsu glared. Pon-chan dealt him a blow. "Ouch! Pon-chan!"

"Ten-chan, don't do that!" she chided. "You know the Count's difficult to bewitch, and if he notices, he'll surely get suspicious."

The fox rubbed his shoulder and pouted. "Why do they have to be so complicated?" he complained. "Anyone can see that they like each other, but no, they've got to act stubborn. These guys!" He snorted dismissively and sulked.

T-chan looked at him critically and sat down, too. "You're not fooling me, Ten-chan. You're enjoying this whole mess," he growled and placed his head in his hands.

The sulk was immediately replaced by a wide grin. "Course I do! Honestly, you can't tell me we've ever had more excitement in the shop before Leon showed up. A little hullabaloo ain't going to harm anyone, and in my personal opinion it'll be the best for the Count. He's far too strict about this whole revenge thing."

T-chan's shoulders hunched uneasily. "I still don't feel okay with lying to the Count," he murmured. Ten-chan's eyes dimmed a little.

"Neither do I," he admitted. "But…" He sighed unhappily and looked at the incense drifting through the room. "I'd do almost everything to make the Count happy," he said silently. "And if he needs that human to be happy, then he shall have him. Now he's here. He only has to grasp him and hold him."

#

D smiled at the ceiling of his four-poster bed. He felt – happy, even though Leon was not here right now. Still, the feeling was there, coming from some place in his chest, a strange warmth that made his body quiver with both excitement and fear. But it was a pleasant fear, not one that actually frightened him. More like – anticipation, yes. Anticipation towards the events that would hopefully take place sometime in the near future. Gods, how he hoped Leon would give in to his advances…

He turned over on his bed and let his head hang down over the end so that the room was upside-down. Leon had turned his whole world upside-down, too. But he wasn't sorry for that. He was grateful. The American was a nuisance and a hard-head, but he was also liberal, warm-hearted and quite a loving brother. Could he perhaps love D too, even though he now knew about his duty and family?

Leon had searched for him. He had quit his job to do so. And he'd gone to a lot of trouble to find D again, even though he knew the truth now. Perhaps there was a chance that they…

The kami sat up abruptly. _What am I thinking?! Leon's not here. He's in America. The only 'Leon' that's here is a hallucination caused by the herb. I really have to be careful. I'm almost acting as if he was really here._

Sadness replaced the warm feeling in his body and he suddenly shivered. It was only for the best if Leon wasn't really here. For once, the real one couldn't be expected to love D. He couldn't even be angry if the human hated him by now.

And second… if Leon ever turned up, D would have to turn him out the moment he stepped inside, for his own sake. The shiver turned into a shudder when he remembered his grandfather's cold look the last visit he'd paid him. The whole conversation came back to mind.

"And the human hasn't showed up by now?"

"No, grandfather, he hasn't."

"Good. Very good. He should have given up searching for you now. It has been almost two years since you pushed him off the boat."

A little pride had crept into the eldest D's voice as he laid a hand on the younger's shoulder. "I was worried if you would have the strength to leave him. You seemed so attached to him and that brother of his that I almost thought you had…"

Then he'd quickly shaken his head and smiled, the cold look leaving his eyes. "But no, I shouldn't have distrusted you. You know where your place and your duty is, unlike your father. You are a good grandson."

D stared at the upside-down room with bleak eyes. He had felt cold, so cold at these words. Once he'd understood what his life had been about. He'd loved his pets, he'd loved his shop and he for sure didn't regret punishing the humans for what they'd done. But Leon and Chris had brought joy into his life, a kind of joy he'd never known before.

It had taken him a long time to figure out that sometime during those two years in L.A. he'd fallen in love with the blonde detective. Truth be told, he hadn't realised until his grandfather's visit and the sudden realization that they had actually meant something to him, something that came close to what he felt for his grandfather. He was his family, but he also asked a lot of him. D loved him, no doubt about that, but sometimes he wished grandfather could be a little more – affectionate.

Chris, in contrast, had been affectionate without ever asking anything in return. And Leon, for all his grumbling, had paid him constant visits. He had been – there, without pushing or pressing D. Of course, the detective had always tried to reveal his secrets, but after some months of constant visits and questions, D had wondered more and more if Leon really asked so he could bring him to jail or if it was true interest. The need to understand D.

Then he'd brought him Chris. What other proof could there possibly be than that the detective trusted him with his little brother? It meant that he'd trusted D.

The kami suspected that he'd finally fallen in love with Leon around that time. He'd never realised, and he'd never questioned his feelings towards the two brothers. When he pushed Leon from the boat, he'd done it with regret, but he'd never doubted it was the right thing to do.

Only his grandfather's words had made him question his actions. Had made him sit down and think, actually think about all that had happened in America. He'd never allowed himself to do so, shocked by the fact that he'd cried pushing Leon away. But after grandfather's visit, he'd spent a whole night on rethinking everything. The night had turned into a week, the week into a month. And finally, he'd realised that he'd actually been in love with Leon for a long, long time.

And he'd also become aware that he'd missed any chance he might ever have had at loving Leon when he pushed him away. No wonder he'd worked so much. He had needed the work, had to forget about Leon and Chris and his love.

And consequently, he had overworked himself and fallen sick.

D sighed and turned around again. His head was swimming from all the blood that had rushed into it. He put a hand over his forehead and followed the patterns on the curtains with his eyes.

Destiny had blessed him with a second chance, even if it was only a hallucination. And D was sure he didn't want to screw it up this time.

#

The door opened and let Leon in, carrying his duffel. Pon-chan came from the back and smiled at him. "Leon, there are you! We wondered where you'd gone and if you'd left again," she babbled. The blonde smiled back and blew a strand of hair from his eyes.

"I was just doing my laundry, Pon-chan," he explained and looked around. "So… now I need a place to hang it up. It's gotta dry."

The raccoon thought. "I think I know where you could dry it," she said hesitantly. "C'mon, we've got to get in the back." She hopped ahead, guiding Leon further into the shop than he'd ever been. He didn't feel comfortable, she could tell. But if he wanted dry clothes, he had to go into one of the hotter rooms. And those were further in the back at the moment.

Halfway down the corridor, they met the Count. The raccoon looked up at him guiltily, wanted to explain –

– and quickly shut up again. The kami's gaze was fixed on the human anyway, so she withdrew and just spared another moment to tell the Count she was searching for T-chan. He answered absentmindedly, mismatched eyes looking into Leon's blue ones. "He's in his room, Pon-chan. Tell him to prepare dinner soon, will you?"

"I want meat, you got that?" Leon called after her, tearing his eyes from those half-hidden ones with difficulty. The raccoon didn't answer, but he was pretty sure she'd heard him.

"Leon, where do you want to go?" the kami asked and looked curiously down at the duffle Leon was carrying. The blonde cleared his throat.

"Well, I… Pon-chan wanted to show me where I can dry my clothes," he explained. "She said it was back in here…"

His voice trailed off uncertainly, as if he wasn't sure if it was alright to step into the back. So far he'd only been to Chris' or better, his room, and D's bedroom. And the kami was always a little picky with the back of his shop.

But now he merely smiled brightly and stepped beside Leon, taking his arm. Due to holding the duffel, he couldn't object, but he sent D a strange glance. The kami tugged at his arm. "Why don't you come, Leon? You already know about the shop being a ship. There are many, many rooms in here, not even I have been to all. But I'm pretty sure there's a desert room somewhere around where your clothes will get dry," he said happily. Leon shrugged and let himself be lead to the room.

He was done wondering about the shop, for the most part. He didn't question its magic anymore. Still, he was staring open-mouthed when D led him inside a room that seemed to be taken out of the Sahara. He shaded his eyes against the sun. "Wow! That's – fuck!" he exclaimed. D let go of his arm and wrinkled his brow.

"Leon, please. That language…" he admonished and pointed to some cactuses. "If we stretch a cord between those, you'll be able to dry your clothes on it," he suggested.

Leon followed him over, still gazing around him with wide eyes. "I knew this ship's weird, but I never thought it'd be that weird," he muttered. The kami turned to him and smiled.

"Well, Leon, if you wish to, I'll show you some of the other rooms, too. They are quite delightful, and if I am with you, there is no danger one of the animals will cause you harm."

The blonde sent him a weak glance. "I'm still not sure I wanna risk that."

D laughed, the way he'd laughed in that strange dream-thing at the museum. "There are peaceful rooms, too. I could show you to Philippe, Chris's special friend. He wanted to meet you anyway since I told him about you."

"What is he?" the American wanted to know and started opening the duffel.

"A dolphin," D answered matter-of-factly.

Leon stopped. "You are kidding me. A dolphin needs the sea. There's no sea in your ship." Seeing that familiar mysterious smile on the kami's face, he sighed. "Okay, seems there is. Geez, D, I really need some time off. I mean, I got that you're special and that pet shop's special, too, but that's a little bit too much. Gimme a break, will ya?"

"Of course, Leon," D answered softly and busied himself with the cactuses. "Would you help me with the cord, please?"

Leon looked even more flabbergasted. "Now where did you get that cord?" he demanded and D smiled again.

"I just took one of the cords of my cheongsam," he answered sweetly. Leon stared. Then he grinned. "Wow, you're ruining your outfit for me. That's a nice change," he said. The kami glared.

"I do not ruin my cheongsam for you, Leon. The cord is merely an application and not necessary. I can spare it easily."

The blonde pulled some of his wet clothes from the bag and handed them to him. "Geez, your silly dresses are always overstuffed with those applications," he commented and earned another glare.

"At least they are beautiful to look at, in contrast to western clothes," the Count said icily. Leon vetoed at once.

"They're not. You just have no sense for them. But just have a look at all those women! They look so hot in them, hotter than they'd ever look in that Chinese clothing. I bet even you would look good in them, if you ever ditched your dresses for some good old pair of jeans."

D raised a questioning eyebrow. "I am seriously doubting that, Leon."

"Oh yeah?" The blonde stood and placed one of his jeans on the improvised clothesline. "Then why did you pull on my clothes yesterday?"

D glared and blushed. Leon grinned widely, knowing he'd won. "I'll tell you what, D, when you're feeling better, we'll go shopping. And then I'll show you western clothes are great, too."

The kami stiffened at once. "I assure you, I am alright again, Leon," he said calmly, but his eyes were blazing. The blonde didn't look like he believed him. "In that case, I suggest we go to the city tomorrow," D said sweetly. "I am sick of being treated like an invalid anyway. Then you may try to convince me."

Leon was about to say something, but Ten-chan's voice interrupted him. "Count, are you here somewhere? Dinner's ready!"

Both turned and saw the nine-tailed fox approach. He spotted the clothesline and couldn't suppress a grin. "T-chan sent me to tell you he's served dinner in your room," he told his master, strictly keeping his eyes on him. Leon opened his mouth and was cut off again, this time by the Count. He glared angrily, but got no response at all.

"Why, Ten-chan, how very nice of him. Why would he think I want to have dinner in my room?" he asked curiously. The fox shrugged.

"Said you should not overstrain yourself. Don't ask me, he seems to think you're too weak to make it to the front room." His eyes blazed with secret amusement, while D looked exasperated.

"Really, as much as I appreciate your worry, there is no cause for it," he admonished gently.

"If you say so, Count," Ten-chan answered and used the second D looked at the clothesline to wink at Leon. The blonde's chagrin at being ignored vanished and he returned the grin. Then D turned back.

"Well. Please, Ten-chan, go ahead. I'll be there shortly," he ordered and the fox vanished again while Leon protested.

"Why should he go? We could as well walk there together."

"I just wanted to make sure your clothes won't be blown off the cord," D said quickly and the blonde looked at him strangely again. He blushed.

"D. There's no wind in here. Why should they fall off?" he said very clearly and the pale cheeks turned even redder.

"Don't underestimate the shop, Leon. There might be some wind in here after all."

He squirmed under Leon's blue gaze. "D, you're acting really strange," he said earnestly and before the kami could evade, he had placed a hand on his forehead. "Do you still have fever?"

D's heart felt like it might stop beating any second. He quickly shoved away the warm hand and snapped. "Of course not! I told you, I am alright again! Would you please come to dinner now?"

He turned away and strode back into the shop, Leon at his heels, muttering something about 'Ungrateful skinny Chinese smartasses'. They were busy with fighting all over dinner, and when Leon finally left, slamming the door behind him, D felt better than he had in the whole last two years.

#

Standing in front of his wardrobe, D considered his attire carefully. After all, he didn't want one of his customers to see him talking to himself and trying on western clothes. Not that he actually cared what humans thought about him, but the reputation of the pet shop had to be adhered.

At last he decided to wear a black cheongsam looking like one of those coats juveniles liked to wear. He distantly recalled that he'd once asked Leon why this special garment was so in favour with them and the American had explained that ever since a movie called "Matrix" those almost monk-like coats were "en vogue".

Of course he hadn't used the French expression. D seriously doubted that he even knew it. Leon might have many interests, but neither French nor fashion were amongst them.

Arriving in the front room, he stumbled into a fight between the detective and the totetsu. Apparently Leon wasn't happy with what the tiger-goat had prepared for breakfast and had voiced his remonstrance openly.

Once he saw his master, the totetsu turned around abruptly and vanished into the kitchen, leaving a fuming Leon behind. "That friggin' tiger-goat-thing!" he yelled. "I'm gonna kill'm next chance!" The kami tried to soothe the blonde, hiding a smile, though he wondered for a second. Why hadn't T-chan greeted him? A look at the table told him he'd been busy with cleaning it. There was absolutely no need to flee the Count.

He abandoned the thought. Perhaps T-chan had had a bad night and didn't feel like company. There was none of the other pets in here, either.

"T-chan, I'll go to town!" he called into the kitchen, grabbed Leon's arm and dragged the reluctant human with him. "Please, Leon, hurry up. We can have breakfast in the city," he twittered. The baffled human had no chance to object and stumbled after the Count silently.

Watching them leave from behind the curtain, T-chan and Ten-chan sighed synchronic. "I really hope poor Leon'll get anything to eat all day. If the Count doesn't forget his 'hallucination', Leon'll be in for a diet today," the nine-tailed fox remarked, amused.

T-chan grinned. "Wouldn't kill him in my opinion," he announced and turned back into the shop whistling.

#

They wouldn't have had to worry. Once out of the shop, D completely forgot that Leon was a hallucination. He acted every bit like he would with a real human. They ate breakfast in a little hidden restaurant and then strolled to the middle of the city. Usually D wasn't too fond of leaving his pet shop, but after being kept inside for a week, he enjoyed it. Especially because Leon was at his side, permitting him to take his arm and looking around with wide eyes. They behaved a lot like tourists would, this being Leon's first time in Japan and D just too happy to reprimand him.

Finally they reached one of the big stores. Leon pointed to it and grinned. "So, now what about we go in there and I'll prove you that western clothes are both comfortable and look good?"

The kami smiled. "If you wish, Leon, we will do so," he answered and stepped inside.

Much to D's relief, it was morning and not too many customers around. Apart from a clerk they had the men's section to themselves. Still, the Count looked at the displayed clothes quite questioningly. "And you really think those would look good on me?" he asked and pointed to a polo shirt on a display dummy.

Leon snorted. "No, not those. Here, let me see…"

He disappeared between the racks and rummaged through the clothes. D followed hesitatingly, pulling one out here and there, face growing ever more doubtfully. "I really don't know if that's such a good idea, Leon," he weakly told his companion, but the blonde just looked at him and measured him from head to toe. D squirmed. "What?" he asked faintly. Leon's brows drew together in concentration.

"I'm just trying to estimate which size you'll need. That's a bit difficult to guess in those dresses you always wear," he answered and the Chinese protested right away.

"These are no 'dresses', Leon, how many times do I have to tell you? They are handmade cheongsam." Pouting slightly, he sat down on a chair and crossed his arms.

The American was not impressed. "Here, there you go. Try these, and then we'll know which size you need," he ordered and D complied, still pouting. He went into a changing cubicle and placed the clothes Leon had chosen on a chair in there.

"Call if you don't know what to do with them." He could almost hear the wide grin in Leon's voice.

Barely refraining from swearing a little (these were _complicated_! Why didn't they at least sew clothes that were _easy_ to pull on?!), D changed into a jeans and a dark blue t-shirt with an eagle printed on the front. He looked into the mirror critically and winced at his reflection. No, he couldn't go out in those! Never! Leon would die with laughter.

"D, you ready? C'mon, lemme see how you look?"

"Just a moment, Leon," D tried to hold him off, but patience had never been the blonde's strong point.

"Stop wining, just come out. I won't laugh, I promise. At least not much."

"That's truly reassuring," the kami said sourly and stepped out, posture clearly telling how unsure he felt.

At his sight, Leon's eyes went wide and he just sat there, dumbfounded. D cringed. "I think they are a little bit too tight," he murmured and blushed furiously. He'd _known_ it! He'd _known_ it was a bad idea from the beginning!

Slowly he withdrew to the cubicle. "I'll just change back into my clothes…" he mumbled, but Leon stopped him. His eyes shone.

"Hey D, not so fast! Damn, you look even better than some of the models I knew back in LA! If you were a woman, I'd say you look absolutely _hot_!"

D blushed even more furiously. "But they're so tight!" he argued.

The blonde shook his head. "D, they're _supposed_ to be this tight. Wow, what a nice ass!"

D froze. Leon froze. They looked at each other for a second, each taking on the colour of a tomato.

Then D turned back to the cubicle quickly and Leon cleared his throat. "Try on the black tee," he murmured.

#

In the end, they left the store with two jeans, one black and one dark blue, and four t-shirts. D had refused to buy more, because, like he told Leon, he wouldn't wear them often anyway. Though he admitted that they had their advantages to his cheongsam, he still liked the silk better than the rough cotton.

In return for that, Leon had made him keep on the black jeans and the blue tee. He also made D wear his jacket, because if they arrived home and D fell sick again due to running around in a tee, T-chan would eat him right then and there, according to the blonde. The kami's protest that Leon would get a cold if he walked around in nothing but a shirt was completely ignored. He just waved his hand dismissively and refused to take it back.

Once outside, Leon cast a critical glance at the kami's feet. "Okay, that we should take care of," he said. Pecking his head to the side, D looked down on his feet, too.

"What do you mean?" he inquired innocently.

"I'm talking about your shoes, D. At the moment it looks like you're a woman. You can't wear those shoes to jeans and a tee, at least not if you're a man," the American explained patiently.

"Why not? I like my shoes and I don't care if people mistake me for a woman. They do that all the time, no matter what I wear."

The Chinese smiled up at Leon who sighed theatrically. "But not if you're running around with me. If you're with me, you've got to look like a man. Got it?"

"If you insist, Leon," D gave in easily and they went in search of a shoe shop.

#

To be honest, D had much more fun in the shoe shop than Leon. The blonde just sat there, slightly blushing and grunted whenever the kami asked him about a pair of shoes. He heaved a deep sigh when they at last left the shop again. "Man, I don't get what women like about buying shoes! It's a pain in the ass!"

"Leon, language," D reprimanded and smiled at his new shoes fondly. The human regarded him weakly. "That just proves my point. Geez, D, you're such a woman sometimes!"

Bickering friendly, they made their way through the big street. School was over and now a lot more people crowded the road. D noticed the glances especially the girls were sending Leon, but his detective didn't even seem to notice. He was busy with explaining the Chinese why women should never ask a man if they looked good. As far as D understood, it was because the man was too silly to just tell the woman honestly that she looked splendid.

But well, he'd never really been able to understand human mating customs.

Then he saw something and his eyes lit up. "Leon, look over there!" he squealed and the blonde obligingly turned his head.

"D, you sure ice cream's the right thing to eat for you now?" he asked, not convinced. But the kami just took his arm and dragged him over to the café, beaming brightly.

They sat down and ordered, Leon still shaking his head unbelievingly. "Well, Leon, if you'd given me ice cream to eat instead of wrapping me in wet towels, perhaps it would've reduced my fever, too." D wrinkled his little nose and Leon glared.

"If you'd been able to make that suggestion, perhaps we would have. But if I may remind you, you preferred to stay unconscious for almost three days," he shot back.

A group of four Japanese schoolgirls entered and took the table next to them. D eyed them unobtrusively and decided that they were far too young (and not the right type) to divert his detective's attention from him. But he listened to their conversation with one ear while he argued with Leon.

"_He's probably American." _

"_Yes, did you notice his blonde hair?" _

"_It's hard not to notice. Wish I had hair like that!"_

They all sighed enviously.

"_Who's that guy beside him?" _

"_Is it even a guy? He looks like a woman!" _

"_Noooo, he's a guy. Don't you see that he's got no bosom?" _

"_Do you think they're – well – you-know-what?"_

Collective giggles. D, overhearing, tried not to blush.

"_But he doesn't look gay to me. What do you think? Perhaps they're just friends." _

"_Yeah, he could be showing him around." _

"_Of course they're a couple. A Chinese and an American eating ice cream together in Tokyo? And they're both talking English."_

They were favoured with thoughtful gazes. Leon noticed the kami's inattention and nudged him. "Hey D, you even listening to me? We should go back sometime soon, otherwise T-chan'll kill me. You're still not completely fit."

Seeing D glare, he grinned. "Well, that's at least what he told me this morning. In fact, he used a friggin' frying pan to emphasize his point, and it was that I was to look after you very carefully in case it's too much for you."

The Chinese snorted disparagingly. "I am very well, thank you very much, Leon," he said stiffly and heard a "_You see? I _told _you. They're using the first names. They've got to be a couple!"_ from the next table.

"_That sucks. I wanted to ask him if he liked Japan,"_ one of the girls said disappointedly.

Possessively D placed his hand on Leon's arm, causing a little gasp of surprise from the group. "But if T-chan threatened you with a frying pan, perhaps we should leave for your sake. Not that he damages your head without justification," he suggested, an amused sparkle in his eyes. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I have the feeling that that's not the real reason you want to leave?" he inquired, but stood and stretched.

D caught the wide-eyed admiring gazes from the girls and pressed his lips together disapprovingly. It seemed that the parents in Japan neglected to raise their daughters properly nowadays. His grandfather would've read him the riot act if he'd stared at someone so openly.

Of course grandfather would read him the riot act anyway if he ever found out about Leon.

D sighed silently and pushed the dark thought aside. Leon luckily didn't even suspect they'd been the topic at the next table and even flashed the girls a smile when they left. They broke into hysterical giggles while D glared at them darkly.

Then he felt an arm being slung around his shoulder. "What's the matter, D, jealous?" Leon's warm voice asked, a little mockingly. But his blue eyes smiled down on the smaller Chinese. D returned the smile.

"I see no reason to be jealous, Leon," he said and silently added, 'As long as you're at _my_ side, that is.'


	7. Sixth Chapter: Hallucinating Take Two

Hi guys! So, like I promised, answers to reviews…

_DemonGoddess:_ No, there's not gonna be two of Leon, because honestly, I would confuse them more often than D… xD But that's a good idea. Perhaps, someday, if I should write another story with hallucinogenic tea… -g-

_Anabel_: Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing it, too. You know, a lot of PSoH-stories are pretty sad and all, and while I get that it's more like the series, I think some people forget that there's a lot of comedy in the series, too. Well, you'll wait and see if they have to rue their decision -smiles-

_CountessOzaki_: Hi, welcome to Terrible Tea! Don't worry, updates are usually pretty regular every five days (if I don't confuse the date again, that means -.-). Hope you'll continue reading!

_Kayi_: Well, personally, I think D is still pretty affected by his sickness. His brains aren't working right yet. Or is it something else? -mean grin- Disaster headed our way, pretty sure. Question is, what kind of disaster…? ( I LOVE being the one who knows what's gonna happen xD Sorry.)

As to the shoe question (very important, I admit, being a woman myself), personally I prefer the image of Count D with a pair of good ol' Chucks -g- But I won't mind you picturing something else. :-) Just NOT his usual slippers.

_darkgryphonmage_: No review is crappy as long as it's not a flame. I really, really appreciate every kind of feedback, because honestly, writing without getting any reaction just isn't worth the time I spend on my stories. So thank you as well, and I hope you'll continue reading!

So, because I was late posting the last chapter, this one's posted one day early. Don't think anyone will mind. -looks around- Does anyone mind? Answers are taking up so much space already, so just go on and have fun -smiles-

So long, Enaty

P.S. Warning: It's gonna get a little hotter than until now right ahead... (and please tell me what you thought about it, as I'm pretty new writing such stuff)

Hallucinating, Take 2

The door of the pet shop opened and attracted T-chan from the kitchen. "How was your-" he started and abruptly fell silent at the sight in front of him. Seemed to happen a lot lately. But who wouldn't stare if his master, whom you only ever saw in Chinese clothing, walked in with _western_ clothes _and_ on the arm of the detective _and_ laughing happier than you'd ever heard?!

And those were only the three most important reasons why T-chan's jaw joined the floor.

The Count became aware that he was there and quickly let go of Leon. He brushed his hair back in an almost girly, uncertain movement. His shoulders slightly sagged. "Oh, hello, T-chan," he said, a strange note in his voice. If the totetsu hadn't known his master better, he'd have guessed that the Count was anxiously waiting for his reaction. _Can't be._

He recovered from his surprise and took a good look at this stranger in front of him. Really, clothes made the man. But he had to admit that the Count didn't look bad in those. Unfamiliar, yes, but bad, no.

"That's a nice tee, Count," he said at last, not really sure if that was the right answer, but deciding that if D hadn't liked the clothes a little bit, he probably wouldn't be wearing them.

He'd guessed right. The kami started to beam and Leon pranced with pride. "I told ya, D. You just have to find the right clothes and then even you'll look good in them," he grinned and was rewarded with a weak glance.

_Well, that for sure explains why he bought them. Geez, he really is in love with that idiot!_

Shaking his head a little, the totetsu turned back to the kitchen. "I'll prepare dinner," he called and quickly went out. He felt no desire to listen to the sweet-talk those two would be doing now. But he still heard them from the kitchen. The squeaking sound was Leon sitting down on the sofa, and the small clink the Count preparing some tea. Their voices drifted to him.

"Here, Leon, this will cheer you up a little."

"What makes you think I need something to cheer me up? You're the one who was ill."

"I got the expression, while we were in this shoe shop, that you were rather strained."

"Yeah, but not because I'm getting sick, but because you were such a fuss with those shoes. Jesus, I thought you'd never be able to decide! Worse than any women I've ever met, honestly."

T-chan shook his head and sighed deeply. They'd really be in for some trouble when the Count found out. "This is gonna be very ugly," he murmured and sliced a tomato.

"What's gonna be very ugly?"

Ten-chan's voice behind him made him jump and he cursed, dropping the knife before he cut himself. "Damn you, Ten-chan, don't sneak up on me like that when I'm cooking!" he bawled.

The nine-tailed fox grinned and pushed his braid over one shoulder. "You're the one with the oh-so-sharp senses. It's not my fault when you don't use them," he said and climbed on a board. The totetsu growled, but Ten-chan cut his protests off. "So, what were you talking 'bout? What's gonna be really bad?"

"But Leon, you really seem to be a little strained. It's no wonder if you've cared for me for so long. We should do something more relaxing tomorrow," they heard the Count's voice drift in.

T-chan jabbed a thumb in their direction and sighed again. "Them. They're gonna be real trouble when the Count finds out. Not to mention Leon."

"So far he hasn't objected to any of the advances the Count has been making. They even went shopping today and to me it seems like they had a lot of fun," Ten-chan observed and smiled mysteriously. "Don't worry, Tetsu, they're gonna be alright. I'm sure," he forestalled any other comments the totetsu was about to make.

When he'd turned back to preparing the food, Ten-chan slid down again, went to the curtain and looked out at the two men, drinking tea and bickering. Though they couldn't agree as usual, the atmosphere was a lot friendlier than it had been in America, almost as if they just bickered out of sheer habit.

The fox grinned again, eyes blazing with secrecy. "Don't worry, I'm gonna make sure of that," he murmured.

#

Ten-chan sent a careful glance back to the rocks, but both Pon-chan and T-chan were busy with setting out the things the Count and Leon would need. He moved as noiseless as he could anyway; he didn't want either to notice where or why he'd left.

Reaching a hidden place behind some trees, he whispered a few words. Only seconds later a hooded figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "What is it, little fox? Are things still going according to plan?" she asked with a husky voice. Ten-chan nodded and then spoke.

"But there are some complications. The Count has not yet realised that the human is not a hallucination. If he gets suspicious too fast, everything'll be ruined. Their relationship isn't yet ready for that. What shall I do?"

The figure seemed to consider. "You will have to tell him sooner or later," she replied and held up a slim hand to stop the fox's protest. "But I do see your point. Do not worry, little one. I will see to it that his mind does not dwell on it too often."

The nine-tailed fox bowed deeply. "Thank you."

A smile was in the husky voice. "No, I have to thank you, trickster. Keep me informed."

Then she vanished like she'd appeared, without a sound or even as much as a riffle in the leaves. Ten-chan straightened and went back to his friends, humming contentedly to himself.

#

The totetsu placed a last towel on the rocks and then turned to ask his friend something. But to his astonishment Ten-chan had vanished somehow. Irritated the tiger-goat searched the surrounding terrain with his eyes. But the nine-tailed fox was nowhere to be seen.

"Pon-chan, where did Ten-chan go?" he asked the raccoon, but she looked as nonplussed as he was. "I didn't even notice that he left," she said astonished and looked around, too. Then her face lit up and she pointed over T-chan's shoulder. "There he is!"

The fox drew closer, hands folded behind his back and humming contentedly. T-chan placed his fists on his hips. "Now where've you been? Shirking work or what?" he demanded. Ten-chan smirked.

"Absolutely not. I was just making sure that Leon and the Count won't be disturbed by any overly curious pets while they're in here."

The totetsu raised his brow, but was cut off by the kami's voice behind him. Turning, they saw both men enter, Leon looking more than a little suspicious. But D's mood seemed bright enough for both of them. He was practically beaming.

"You'll see, Leon, it's really relaxing. It'll do us both good, don't you think so, too?" he inquired. Leon shot a murderous glare at the three pets trying to hide their smiles.

"Yeah," he grumbled and sat down. "I still don't get why you've got to do it naked."

The Chinese blushed, but quickly regained his composure again. "Why, are you ashamed, Leon?" he teased and was regarded with another glare.

"Of course not!"

"Then stop fussing around, Detective. You've seen me naked, too," D ordered and Leon snarled.

"That was different! We had to get you out of your clothes to make the calf packing. Not to – well, _look_ at you or something!"

The pets watched the discussion weakly. The men were so lost in it that they didn't even notice when they left silently. There were better things to do than listen to Leon and the Count arguing.

#

"Now please, Leon. If you don't want to, I won't make you, but it would sure do you good. Anyway, I am going to take a bath now," D announced and started to undress. He missed Leon's blush as he opened the collar of his cheongsam, because he was himself too busy trying not to blush while he undressed. Even if it was just a hallucination and even if it had seen him naked already, he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed.

Quickly he slipped out of his clothes and stepped into the hot basin carefully. The stones were wet and slippery. He supported himself with his hands until he found a nice place to sit down, Leon watching him from the rim suspiciously. D sighed and leaned back, delighting in the feel of the hot water around his body. "Do you really want to miss this, Leon?" he asked slyly. The blonde hesitated and then turned, starting to take off his clothes.

D's eyes went wide. For a moment he was glad that Leon had turned around. The colour that crept up his cheeks would be noticeable. Casting a glance at the blonde who was just stepping out of his jeans he held his breath.

_Very_ noticeable.

"Fuck, that's not warm water, that's boiling water!" Leon swore as he stepped inside the pool, too.

"Be careful, the stones are very slippery," D murmured and pointedly stared in the opposite direction. Personally he felt that the temperature of the water didn't even come close to the heat the human was creating in his body.

The kami felt the water ripple against his chest as the blonde searched a place to sit down. Silence stretched. Then-

"Hey, D! Hello! Anyone home?"

A hand waved in front of his face. D whirled round and gasped with shock. Leon was only about a foot away from him, grinning amused at his reaction.

"I thought I was the prude here, but guessing from the way you act, I'm pretty open," he laughed. D blushed, but this time with anger.

"I am not prude!" he snarled, and to prove his point, he skidded a little closer to Leon, an action that caused his stomach to flip.

But to his satisfaction, the laughter died and now Leon looked a little uncomfortable. "What are you doing there?" he asked, a little taken aback. D smiled up at him and fluttered his eyelashes.

"Why, Leon, I am just proving that I am not prude," he said innocently.

The blonde looked not convinced. "Yeeaah, sure, D. Whatever," he murmured.

But he stayed where he was.

Feeling incredibly relieved, D leaned his head back and looked into the sky. It was light blue with little white clouds scattered to it, looking like fluffy pieces of cotton. Leon followed his example and placed his head on one of the towels Pon-chan had set on the rim. "That one looks like an eagle," he said and pointed to the sky.

The kami looked at him. "Rather like a duck, Leon," he corrected. "A very plump duck."

The American sighed exasperated. "Geez, D, you of all people should have a fancy imagination. Just use it for once, okay? It's not what the cloud really looks like, but what it could look like."

"That's most illogical. Either it looks like an eagle or like a duck. It cannot look like both," D argued, but caved in under the glare Leon gave him. "If you insist, Leon. That one over there looks like a ship."

"Yeah, like a pirate ship!"

Who'd told D that all men were children? Well, as far as Leon was concerned, that was absolutely true.

"Why does it have to be a pirate ship? Why not just a nice sailing ship?" he objected. The blonde sighed again.

"Because, D, a pirate ship is much more fun," he explained like he would a child. "Pirates are bold, brave adventurers who look for treasures and rob the rich and sail into the unknown."

"I'm almost sure that's not true," D murmured and Leon rolled his eyes in despair.

"Watching clouds with you is no fun at all," he complained. A hot wave crashed through D's body.

"We could do something I am good at," he suggested.

"And what would that be? Destroying all my carefully preserved childish images?"

Well. Under certain aspects, what D would like to do right now could probably be considered as destroying childish images.

But usually people weren't too unhappy with having those special images destroyed. The question was more, if Leon would be happy with it.

When there was no response after a few minutes, Leon turned to look at D's face. It looked pretty serious and a little sad, though the hot water had brought a red shimmer on his usually pale cheeks. "Ey, what's the matter? You feeling okay?" he asked, concerned that maybe the hot water had been too much for D's circulation. He'd once read somewhere that recently recovered shouldn't bath in hot water too long, because it unduly strained their cardiovascular system.

The Chinese turned his head and smiled at him. "Thank you, Leon, but I am feeling alright. I was just – lost in thought, I'm afraid."

Leon's glance was still suspicious. "If you say so," he murmured and added, "But the moment you're feeling dizzy, you tell me, understood? I don't want you to faint in this pool. What if you drown in here? T-chan'd eat my ass."

D's mismatched eyes danced. "Well, dear Leon, then you'd probably have to resort to immediate life-saving measures. Do you know how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?"

Leon's cheeks turned bright red. He quickly turned his head and stared at the sky again. "Yeah, think I could do that," he mumbled. "Not that I would want to kiss you, mind you. But I could do that."

The warmth that crept up in the kami's body had nothing to do with the water temperature. "Au contraire, Leon. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation isn't kissing. But I feel honoured that you'd leave aside your objections and rescue me."

The blonde's eyes were closed. "Whatever, D."

The Count watched the human for some seconds. Then he skidded closer to him, until their bodies almost touched. From the way Leon's brow wrinkled one could discern that he kept his eyes closed with force. But he still made no move to evade the nearness. Probably because of sheer stubbornness.

D studied his face. Leon had shaved this morning; he could see a little scratch where he'd hurt himself. His fingers wanted to touch the wound, but didn't dare yet. Instead he drank in every contour of the face he'd come to love. The human's breaths seemed a little bit slow to him, like Leon was deliberately trying to breathe deep and calmly.

The kami chuckled slightly and leaned even closer. "Leon," he breathed.

The human's shoulders hunched slightly. "Yeah?"

Maybe the hot water was a little bit too much for D's still weak body. In any case, it sent his mind completely off track into dangerous regions. His hand wandered to Leon's body as if drawn by some magnetic power and ended up touching his cheek lightly.

"Do you know how glad I am that you're here?" the kami asked in a whisper. Leon pressed his eyes shut and shook his head, unable to speak. His face showed a badly hidden mixture between terror, confusion and weird fascination. D glided closer. Now their thighs were touching under the water. Leon's skin on his made him feel like being set on fire. Involuntarily he shuddered.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when you walked into the shop. I thought you'd given up searching for me." D's body inched closer and closer to Leon's, though the last rational part of his brain screamed "Stop!" exasperated.

Unfortunately (or luckily?) it was a very small part, and D had long since decided not to pay it any attention anyway.

"I knew I had to keep you away from the shop. From me. But truth be told, I had hoped… I hoped so much you would continue searching for me. And I hoped even more that you'd find me."

He sneaked a slim finger into Leon's open blonde hair and chuckled. "Not that I doubted you would be able to find me. After all, you're a detective, and a good one, too."

Leon's voice was strained when he spoke up. He still kept his eyes closed tightly. "D, what's this supposed to become? What are you doing? Why are you telling me all this?"

The kami's other hand found its way to the human's bare chest under water. When he touched the sensitive skin, he felt the shudder that went through the other man. But it seemed as if Leon was frozen in place in spite of the hot surrounding.

Or perhaps because of it.

"Because I really need to tell you, Leon," D whispered and leaned his head closer to Leon's. Now he could feel his breath on his cheek. It was slightly ragged and uneven, though the blonde mostly managed to keep control. "I need to tell you that I need you. That I want you."

"Why? Why tell me now? Why didn't you stay then, two years ago?"

The American's voice was nearly a whisper. His fingers were cramped around the stones on the rim, knuckles white. D sighed unhappily.

"It's different now. Back then, I didn't know – I couldn't tell you how much you meant to me. I did what I thought I had to do and pushed you away. When I realised, afterwards, I was frightened. My only thought was flight, and I did flee as far away as I could. But now – now everything is different…"

The blue eyes opened again and D saw hurt in them. He nearly cringed. There was so much pain, so much despair, so much hopelessness that his last rationality went flying out the window. He couldn't bear to see his lion this way.

So instead of breaking with the pain in those sky-blue eyes, he pressed his lips to Leon's forcefully, pulling the blonde into his arms and holding on to him like a drowning man. He felt the human stiffen, and that made him cling to him even more desperately. He wasn't close enough, not nearly, could not be…

Leon broke from the kiss and gasped when D climbed onto his lap, pressing himself as close as possible to his stronger body. "D! Stop it! What are you doing?"

"Showing you how much I need you," the kami answered breathlessly and before the blonde could say anything else, he captured his mouth again hungrily. Leon's surprise had worn off, but now he was trying to escape from D weakly, pressing his hands against his chest and slipping in the water. The Chinese didn't even care. Leon's mind might be averse to this, but his body was not. A hardness that matched his own was touching his thigh. Somewhere in his woozy brain D triumphed.

"Why don't you just give in?" he murmured into Leon's ear, stroking his hair at the same time, carefully avoiding to hurt him with his nails. "Why did you search me if not because you like me? Why nurse me if you don't love me?"

"Damn it, D! Go away!"

With great effort, Leon pushed the kami away and scrambled back, eyes wide and unbelieving. "I – I don't want that," he said, panting. "Please, D, stop it. I don't want it that way. I searched for you because I wanted to kick your damn ass for leaving the way you did, you bastard!"

The familiar feeling of anger towards D visibly calmed the human down. But his eyes were still frightened due to the predatory look in D's mismatched ones. He moved towards the human in the pool with catlike movements. "Stay where you are! I'm warning you!"

A smile appeared on the kami's lips. "My dear Leon, I am very sorry, but I do not believe you. Your own body tells me that you like what I am doing. Surely you don't want to tell me it's lying, do you?"

"No, but – fuck, D!"

Leon was completely caught off guard. He'd noticed. Of course he'd noticed, who wouldn't have? But he'd pinned all signs to D's recent sickness. _Perhaps he's still feeling a little bit weird_, he'd told himself. _Perhaps I'm misreading the signs_.

Finding now that he hadn't, the blonde was desperate. It was not the fact that D was obviously in love with him. Well, at least he wanted to fuck him. Perhaps Leon wouldn't even object. But right now, he felt like prey. And he hated feeling like prey. Especially if D was the predator. It frightened him more than he could tell.

Seeing that the kami was inching closer again, he jumped up quickly. "No, D," he told him with a quivering voice. "See, I like you, I really do. But – not that way. I'm sorry."

D stopped, unsure for a moment due to the sadness in Leon's voice. The blonde took his chance and escaped from the pool, snatching his clothes up and leaving a very confused kami behind.

#

The door slamming shut caused Ten-chan and T-chan to jump. Breathing fast, they stared at an enraged Leon fuming in front of them.

"What was that?" he snarled and grabbed the totetsu, who growled in reply, although he didn't even know what the human was talking about.

"Get your dirty hands off of me!" he hissed. Ten-chan hurried to soothe.

"What are you talking about?" he inquired and innocuously wriggled in between the two of them. "Did something happen?"

Leon dropped the tiger-goat as quickly as he'd grabbed him and ran a hand through his hair. "_Happen?_ Oh well, there did something _happen_ alright! Dammit!"

The two friends watched as the blonde blushed even more furiously than before. Then he whirled round and pierced them with glares. "What kind of drugs did you give D?" he demanded angrily. "Do you think that's funny?! Well, I don't think so! Playing with people's feelings is for sure the meanest thing one can do!"

Fox and totetsu exchanged a glance. They still didn't have the slightest idea what Leon was talking about. But then slowly understanding dawned in Ten-chan's eyes. "Why, Detective, whatever could've happened in there?" he asked slyly. "After all, it was just you and the Count there, taking a bath. Did he faint or what? Why didn't you call us then?"

T-chan still looked confused. Ten-chan winked at him. He stared. Then, suddenly, his eyes grew wide and he choked. _Seems like he got it._

"No, he didn't faint," Leon snarled and sat down heavily, burying his head in his hands. "Damn! I knew that was a bad idea from the beginning!"

"I assure you that the Count has taken no drugs or anything like it," Ten-chan said, smirking. "But if you'd tell us what exactly happened, perhaps we could help you."

The blonde raised his head again and regarded him weakly. "You won't believe it. I don't even believe it myself," he mumbled. Ten-chan offered him a cup of tea.

"Why don't you just tell?" he urged the American.

Leon fiddled with the cup in his hands and looked down on it, blushing. T-chan bent forward slightly, alert and eager to hear what was the matter. Ten-chan on the other hand sat back relaxed.

At last the human had summed up enough courage to ask a question. "Is D homosexual?" he mumbled and stared into his cup concentrative. T-chan very nearly snorted, but managed to keep it to himself. Ten-chan's smile widened.

"Why would you ask such a question, Detective? Did he make undue advances?" he inquired innocently.

Leon exploded instantly. "_Undue advances_?" he very nearly screamed. "Fuck, he very nearly _fucked_ me in there!"

T-chan spat out his tea and stared at him, his expression clearly telling that he _really _hadn't wanted to know that. Ten-chan laughed out loud. Leon glared.

"That's not funny, guys!" His voice was deadly silent. "Playing with people's feelings isn't funny."

The fox quickly willed himself to calm down again and pecked his head to the side. "I told you, none of us drugged the Count and I really doubt that he himself would do such a thing."

Luckily Leon didn't know about the hallucinogenic tea. And he was for sure not going to tell him that right now. "If he did as you said, well, then probably because he wanted to and not because he was forced to."

Leon's gaze fell to the cup again. "So he is homosexual?" he murmured. Both pets shrugged.

"We don't know. He's never said anything about that matter. And I don't think he's ever shown any interest in anyone so far," Ten-chan answered. The totetsu was still speechless, it seemed. He regarded the human with wide eyes, utterly shocked.

"Well, assuming that he is that still doesn't explain why he did that." The American cleared his throat. "And it doesn't explain his strange behaviour since he woke up. I mean, one moment he's completely ignoring me and the next he's acting like I was the ruler of China. He's acting so strange!"

The two pets exchanged a glance. _Who're you telling this._

"Assuming, all hypothetical of course, that the Count is homosexual and interested in you, what would you do?" Ten-chan asked slyly.

At first there was no answer. Leon played with the delicate china. In his big hands it looked vulnerable, though he was very careful not to drop it.

"I don't know," he at last said faintly. "I honestly don't know. I-" he heaved a deep sigh. "Is it that obvious?"

The fox shrugged. T-chan seemed to have decided to leave the talking to him. Discussing the Count's sexual preferences with Leon wasn't what he imagined as a nice friendly talk. (Not that he wanted to have a nice friendly talk with the blonde at all, and if talking implied talking sex, then he would gladly stop talking to Leon at all.) "Not that much, no. But we all have eyes and ears. And we're not usual pets."

That got a weak glance from the blonde. He slumped down in his seat and again hid his face in his hands. "This is all so strange," he murmured.

T-chan couldn't agree more.


	8. Seventh Chapter: Suspecting

Heigh-ho! -hums-

Sooo… I'm taking suspicions as to who the strange cloaked figure is. I'm even setting a prize for those who guess right. :-)

**1RoHxD2**: I am so sorry I forgot to answer your review :-( It's kind of stressful at the moment for me, and I just thought about getting those for the fourth chapter done. Can you forgive me? And as to what you said: D knows Leon is a hallucination, but Leon is so familiar for him that he continually forgets he's supposed to be unreal. I know it's kind of a crappy explanation -shrugs- But well, if you consider he just recovered from the first real illness he had in his life, you may be able to accept it…

**Countess**: well, as long as you use words like 'great' or 'wonderful', I think I'm able to understand your comments. Would be more difficult if it was something like 'bad' or 'horrible' ;-)

**Kayi**: Uhm… might I ask why the Ten-chan-issue and the beginning confused you? Well, of course there's that mysterious figure turning up, but well, that's just another more or less plot-relevant event… you're gonna have to wait until I tell you who it is ;-) And Ten-chan, well, he's a kitsune. It's rather like him to be up to some mischief…

**TaintedDagger**: Well, I know of course what he will do… you will have to read for yourself ;-)

**Darkgryphonmage**: Oh, it you ask me, it's lucky Leon. But of course his opinion of the situation might differ slightly…

Guys, I have a very sad announcement to make: Next week there'll be no update. Because I'll be on vacation. In the mountains, where there'll be no such thing as the www. I'm sorry. :-( I'll try to get my little brother to update this story, but if I don't have enough chocolate to bribe him, there'll be no chapter next week. I hope you'll forgive me… (P.S. Send chocolate via e-mail. Perhaps it'll help ;-)

And for this reason, and for the reason that I have finally, _finally_ finished this story (in spite of exams, homework and everything else that comes with studying) and am only discussing the end with my best friend and beta-reader now (honey, I really, really do love you, you know that, right?), this update also comes one day early.

So long, Enaty :-)

Suspecting

The shop was dark and silent. The pets were asleep, at least the ones who were diurnal. Pon-chan was sleeping on the couch, lying on her back, legs stretched up in the air.

D smiled and glided further, delighting in the silence in the dark rooms. He'd never noticed, but the shop was really special. Not only was it his home, but also a place where the most wonderful things could and did happen.

Though until now he'd seldom been the subject of those events.

But now Leon had found him again, and D felt like in a dream. So what if things in the pool today hadn't quite gone according to plan? He still had plenty of time to convince Leon of his affection. Because he was sure the blonde felt something for him. He'd only frightened him, nothing more. Next time he would be more careful, and then the human would give in. He had to give in.

A shudder suddenly crossed D's slender frame. There was – something off here…

Confused, he tried to figure out what it was, but either he was too tired or he… He didn't know. It was like there was suddenly a wall of glass in his head that prevented him from thinking certain thoughts. Shrugging, he abandoned the thought. Whatever it was, it would be gone by morning, surely. And even if not, in the morning he would be far too busy spending time with his lion to have spare thoughts.

Thinking about the human again, he wrinkled his brow. He had to find a way to conceal him from grandfather. The eldest D would not be happy with Leon being here, not at all. And D didn't want to loose him again, only this time forever. Count D would kill him without second thoughts and consideration towards his grandson's feelings. But he wouldn't let him.

Sighing a little, he sat down beside the raccoon and gently stroked her. She turned in her sleep and offered her belly to him, making a little sound of contentment. D smiled. If he wanted to keep the image, he had to open the shop again so that grandfather wouldn't get suspicious. There would be ways to keep Leon in the back as long as he was tending to the customers. After all, the shop did most time what he asked it to do. It should present no problems.

#

Leon woke from the sound of his room's door opening. He sat up in his bed and froze when he saw D enter. The kami smiled at him brightly and put down a tray with breakfast into his lap. "Good morning, Leon. Did you sleep well?" he asked and sat down on the bed, drawing one knee up comfortably.

The blonde gazed between tray and kami, uncertain. Then he sidled away a little, getting more distance between the two of them. "What do you want?" he asked, almost fiendish. D had the decency to look down and blush.

"I am sorry to have frightened you yesterday, Leon. I was – too rash. Please forgive my bluntness," he said silently.

Leon eyed the breakfast tray and found to his astonishment that D had actually served him bacon. His resistance started to meld. "Just never do that again, okay? It's fucking freaking me out when you go after me like that," he growled and tasted his breakfast. _Oh lords. Fuck, that's good!_

Opening his eyes again, he found D watching him, a soft look in his eyes. The blonde blushed. "Don't stare at me like that, understood?" he snarled and caused a chuckle.

"But Leon, you are quite a delightful sight," D teased and quickly slid off the bed before Leon could get really angry. "I'll be in the front room, if you are looking for me. Perhaps you want to take your clothes down? They should be dry by now."

He was gone before Leon had time to react. Shaking his head, he continued to eat and was nearly done when the door opened again to let a smiling Pon-chan and a grumbling Tetsu inside. "Do you like it?" the raccoon asked and hopped onto the bed. "The Count made it all himself!"

The fork stopped in mid-air. Leon looked at her incredulously. "_D_ made bacon? Are you kidding me?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not. We wanted to bring you breakfast, but we saw him go to your room with the tray. He must've gotten up really early."

Her eyes showed confusion. T-chan quickly cut in. "Yeah, whatever. What do you want to do now? The Count's opening up the shop again, so you'll have to find yourself some other distraction."

He sounded quite grumpy. Luckily Leon was already fed and thus in a rather good mood. "Have to get my clothes back," he said and took a last sip of orange juice. "Wanna go with me, Pon-chan?"

She beamed. "Yes!"

"Okay, then get ready. I'll just get dressed and be out in a minute." Both pets pecked their heads to the side, but then realised that Leon wanted them out of the room while he got ready. T-chan grinned meanly, but his friend snatched his arm and pulled him out. Leon waited until the door had closed again and then got out of bed.

If the Count was opening the shop again, it meant that he would have some time to himself to think about his strange behaviour. Just what he needed. Things in the pet shop were getting _really_ weird.

#

"Count, are you sure you want to open up the shop again?"

D turned and sent the nine-tailed fox an irritated glance. "Yes, Ten-chan, I am. Why should I not? Grandfather will be angry if I keep it closed much longer," he said firmly and returned to cleaning, not paying any more attention to the nearby hovering fox, whose face was quite confused. He sidled out to meet Pon-chan and T-chan in the corridor.

"What's suddenly going on with him? I thought he wanted to keep the shop closed until the hallucination disappeared again?" the totetsu whispered and glanced at his master worriedly. "He made him breakfast, he can't think it's gone."

"Why do you ask me? I don't know either." Ten-chan's voice was strained. "I can't imagine what's going on in his mind. But now we'll have to be even more careful. Good gods, we'll have to keep Leon from walking in on a customer!"

Tetsu hit the wall in frustration, causing his master to call sternly "T-chan, stop that!" from the front room.

"Fuck, why do they have to be so complicated!" he swore, silently enough that D didn't hear him.

The nine-tailed fox shrugged. "Don't you ask me. I'm really getting fed up with this whole business here. Couldn't they just make up their minds, get together and then we can tell them the truth?" he complained.

Pon-chan soothed her friends. "Don't worry, Tetsu," she smiled and hopped back to Leon's room. "Let's just get him to the desert room and then we'll find something else to keep him occupied while the Count's working. He'll want to keep him from the customers, too. I'm sure it'll turn out alright."

"She's pretty naïve sometimes," T-chan commented, watching her hop to Leon's room. Ten-chan nodded. The strange look in his eyes made Tetsu suspicious. He narrowed his eyes and nudged his friend. "Say, Ten-chan, you don't happen to have anything to do with his change of mind?" he asked slyly.

The fox snapped from his thoughts and stared. "What?!" he demanded. T-chan's eyes narrowed even further.

"Well, perhaps you happened to enchant the Count so he forgets that Leon's supposed to be his hallucination?" he suggested. Ten-chan's eyes blazed.

"I did not!" he snarled. "Whatever makes you think I would dare that? I know perfectly well how difficult the D family is to bewitch, and I surely don't want to ruin it!"

They waged a silent war, but finally Tetsu gave in. "Okay, okay. You didn't do it. But still, he seems pretty bewitched to me," he growled. "You're sure you don't have anything to do with it?"

Ten-chan suddenly looked very thoughtful. "No-o," he stretched and T-chan's suspicion perked up again.

"But you do know someone who could do it?" he demanded and the fox slowly shook his head.

"I'm not sure, T-chan… Let me think about it, okay?"

The totetsu was about to object when the door to Leon's room opened and the human appeared. Pon-chan called for him, and after sending Ten-chan a last suspicious glance, he rushed off. The fox stayed where he was, gazing into nowhere. "You?" he whispered silently.

The empty corridor didn't answer, but it was doubtful if the fox had even expected an answer.

#

"Yes, of course you may call me anytime if problems arise," D assured and led the way to the door. The girl and her father left, smiling happily. As soon as they'd vanished, he stopped smiling, quickly closed the door firmly.

The next second, the door behind the curtains that led to the back of the shop burst open to reveal an angrily fuming Leon. "Damn you, D, what are you up to again?!" he barked and strode over, snatching the kami at his collar. D placed his hands on the human's and smiled up at him.

"I merely wanted you not to be disturbed by my customers, Leon," he answered sweetly. The blonde glared.

"I don't believe one word…" he started and stopped talking abruptly.

D's lips had brushed his in the faintest of touches. And now he was breathing very close to his ear. "Why, Leon, are you jealous? I am sorry, but I have to open the shop. It's my duty," he murmured. His low voice made the hair stand on Leon's skin. He quickly dropped the Count again, who smirked wickedly.

"Please, Leon, don't be so rude. There's no need to drop me like that," he scolded gently, but his mismatched eyes danced. The blonde swallowed hard.

"D, I told you to stop it," he said silently. The kami's face became sad.

"Leon, please…" he begged, but the human inched away.

"I told you, I don't like that. I don't want it. If you don't stop, I'll leave."

At this, D's eyes went wide with horror. He quickly turned away and saw T-chan and Pon-chan standing in the doorway. He blushed. Getting rejected in front of his pets was not something he liked. "Will you prepare tea?" he ordered politely. They regarded him with strange looks, but disappeared into the kitchen. Leon slumped down on the sofa and played with his fingers.

"Listen, D, it's not as if I didn't like you," he started hesitantly. D busied himself with the teacart.

"What else then, Detective?" he heard himself ask silently. Leon sighed deeply.

"I - didn't search you to get it on with you. You were the one who left me, not vice-versa. I don't like being left without any explanation. Yes, you showed me what you are, and yes, I got to meet your family."

_And to kill some of them_, he added silently, not daring to look up.

"But what do you think you're doing? I mean, okay, I came here. But it doesn't work that way. D'you think it's enough to faint and get ill so that I'll be worried about you to get me to forget what you did? To Chris? To me?"

The hurt D had seen in the pool was back. He felt like starting to cry, but instead he took a deep breath and turned back to the human. "No, of course I don't think that will be enough. But I am willing to do what I can to attain your forgiveness," he said silently and sat down in his usual chair. Leon cast him a quick glance, saw that he didn't intend to come any closer and relaxed.

"Look, D, let's just work it out, okay? I want to rule off this whole affair. I'll stay here for as long as it takes to learn enough that I can explain everything to Chris and then I'll be off again and you'll never have to see me again."

D's mouth was dry. He licked his lips and started to speak. It would only work the second time.

"What makes you think I wish to never see you again?"

Leon forgot to stare at his hands and looked into his eyes. "You left," he said matter-of-factly. "You fled from me. In my experience, that means you don't want to see me again."

The kami took a long, shivering breath. "I do not wish to never see you again, Leon," he choked out. "I do wish to have you around. I left because I was forced to, not because I wanted to. And I fled you for your own sake. It is dangerous, being near me for you. Extremely dangerous."

"Well, if so, why haven't you thrown me out yet? You said something… in the pool." D averted his gaze, blushing, but Leon kept on talking. "You said it is different now. Why is it different, D? What is different than before?"

D considered the question. But again, somewhere in his head, there was a glass wall that prevented him from getting the answer he knew lay hidden behind. He tried, but the glass was stronger. At last he gave up. "I don't know," he admitted, sounding confused. He looked right into Leon's blue eyes, feeling like afloat in an ocean. "I can't remember, Leon."

The blonde sighed deeply. "Okay. Fine. Then try to figure it out. I'll be in my room if you manage to remember."

His bitter voice told D that he thought he was being lied to. He extended a hand to reach for Leon, but he went away without even looking back.

#

While D was sitting in the front room, utterly confused, Leon went straight to the room where he knew he would find Ten-chan and T-chan. He went right in, not caring to knock first. The friends were there, accompanied by Pon-chan, and all three looked up in confusion at his sight.

"Weren't you talking to the Count?" the nine-tailed fox asked and set down his teacup. The blonde glared at them.

"I'm sick of being treated like an idiot by you!" he snapped and went to stand in front of the table. "What the hell is going on here? Why is everyone trying to evade me? What's up with the Count? You can't tell me everything's alright. I'm not that dumb! You're acting strange, D's acting even more strange and everybody seems to conceal something from each other."

The guilty glance they exchanged told him that they were indeed keeping something from him, just like he'd suspected. Leon's voice was deadly silent. "Okay, guys, that's it. I'm not moving before I know what's going on in here."

T-chan and Pon-chan looked at Ten-chan expectantly. "Your idea, your business," the tiger-goat urged the nine-tailed fox who pierced him with a glare.

But he turned to Leon and motioned for him to sit down. "Please, Leon, it's a little bit more complicated and will take some time to explain."

The blonde obliged, still looking suspicious. T-chan poured tea. _Damn that stuff. The whole mess started with it!_

Ten-chan was searching for a start. He opened his mouth then closed it again. At last he had decided where to start and cleared his throat.

"I think it all started about two weeks ago or so, when the Count suddenly began feeling ill. He didn't do anything about it, mind you, just went on with business and everything like usual, because kami don't get sick in his opinion. But he was sick, and we had a pretty bad week trying to keep him and the shop safe."

He glanced at his friends. Pon-chan nodded encouragingly. Her eyes shone with the naive believe that Leon would understand their behaviour and stay. That everything would turn out well.

Unfortunately neither Ten-chan nor T-chan shared her hopes. They were rather uncomfortable.

"On the day you arrived, it had gotten so bad that we could at last convince him to retire at least for the day, but then the customer came in and T-chan scared her away," the fox continued. "The Count noticed and came back to the front. When there was no one in there, he made tea. We can only guess what happened then." He shrugged. "Fact is, somehow he put a wrong ingredient in the tea, an herb he usually uses in the incense."

Leon's eyes went wide. T-chan provided further information. "It's not dangerous. If you inhale it, you can see the other world, our true form or whatever you want to call the shop. But if you eat it – you're in for some really good hallucinations." He grinned wickedly, obviously delighted at that fact.

The blonde looked like a beaten dog. "He's not in love with me, is he?" he asked quietly and looked down on his hands. "You lied. He is on something. He's on that herb, whatever it is."

To the pets' horror, he started to rise. "Okay, that's it. You're the worst bastards I've ever met. I can't believe you did something like that. It's – oh, just fuck you all! Fuck D and this damn shop! I'm leaving!"

Anger broke through shock and hurt and was immediately aimed at the three friends. Pon-chan cried out and quickly clung to Leon's leg. "No, Leon, it's not that way!" she cried. "You don't understand! The drug has long since worn off, probably even before the Count woke again! Stay, please! Please!"

She'd managed to bring the human off-balance and consequently Leon landed on his bottom again, swearing. "Pon-chan, you little brat! Let me go! I'm not your fucking clown!"

Ten-chan quickly spoke up again, too, sensing that he had to convince the blonde now or he'd leave never to come back again.

"Pon-chan is right, Leon. The herb only lasts a few hours. At the time you came in, the hallucinations probably hadn't even started, and when the Count woke again, the effects must've ceased long since. Whatever the Count did, he did it because he wanted to, just like I told you."

Leon stopped his struggle with the raccoon and looked up again. "That still doesn't explain anything!" he snapped. "Why is he suddenly hitting on me? And why does he ignore me one second and then couldn't be more considerate the next? Why are _you_ doing that?!"

T-chan grinned wickedly. "Well, now _that's_ the really interesting thing. We think the Count noticed the wrong ingredient before you came. So when you showed up, he mistook you for a hallucination. Therefore he has the heart to confess his –" he searched for words and then continued with curled lips, "–feelings for you, which he wouldn't have if you were real."

The totetsu shrugged in response to Leon's unbelieving glare. "He's shy, what's your problem? He's never been in love so far, and you're a guy and you're _Leon_, to top it all."

The human snorted. "Yeah, thanks for that, T-chan. What's your fucking problem with me? It's not as if he was so shy back when that wacko cannibal tried to eat him, or when he needed me as a cover from that Vampire."

The three pets rolled their eyes. "Leon, that was different," Ten-chan told him calmly like explaining to a child. "He probably wasn't in love with you back then and was just teasing you. Or if he was, he wasn't aware of it. We think he only noticed how much he really likes you when he'd pushed you off the ship and left you, and not even then did he recognise that what he feels for you is love and not friendship. That was – very recent, and neither of us knows why. But it started about two months ago that he got even more depressed when someone mentioned you."

Leon glared and sulked. "Just great. You know, that was what I hoped for when I came to Japan. A Count who's in love with me and thinks I'm a hallucination. Fuck this damn shop. Nothing but problems."

Tiredly he rubbed his forehead. "Would you mind leaving me alone now? I've got a lot of things to think about and I'd very much like to be alone."

Pon-chan looked at him with big eyes. "Don't leave, Leon," she pleaded. "The Count likes you so much. He was so unhappy during these last two years. Please don't leave!"

The blonde sighed. "I'll think about it, Pon-chan. But please leave me alone now."

The pets left the room as requested and silently closed the door behind them. Then they stood and stared at it, deep in thought. At last T-chan shook himself. "Let's pray the idiot decides right for once in his life," he said and voiced what every pet in the shop was thinking right now, too.

#

D had went by his door and stopped, but hadn't dared to knock. The shop was falling silent again. Only Leon was still sitting on his bed, not even tired. His head kept spinning like a carousel. There were so many things to think about, he didn't even know where to start.

The most important, of course, was D being in love with him. It also was the most difficult. Because Leon honest to god didn't know how to act. He'd never thought that D – _D_, for god's sake – would or could have a crush on him. He'd been flirting with him ever since Leon first set foot into that damn shop, but there had never been anything real about that. Or at least he'd assumed as much. Because it just couldn't be that someone like D fell in love with someone like Leon. Such things just didn't happen, even though Hollywood wanted to make you believe it. But in real life, they didn't.

And it wasn't just that D was some kind of super-famous star. No, he had to be an inhuman.

Gods, why did Leon always get passed the buck? It just wasn't fair! How was that even supposed to work out? D was some kind of immortal, as far as his experience with that family went. You couldn't kill him with one single well-placed bullet, you couldn't even kill him by pushing him off a skyscraper. How was Leon supposed to compare to that?

The blonde started and groaned. What _was_ it with him lately? He couldn't be seriously considering getting it on with D. There was just no friggin' way. He'd promised Chris he'd find the Count, and yes, he had wanted to find that fucking asshole, but not for that!

Did he?

A little voice kept whispering in his mind, a voice he liked to overhear more often than not. It consisted of many, many comments various people had made, and it just wouldn't shut up, no matter what. There was Jill somewhere, teasing him that he was being jealous of that wacko chief that had tried to eat D. There was Chris, innocently telling him that he wanted Leon to move to the shop, too. Because he was anyway spending more time at the pet shop than in his own flat. Even Q-chan (or rather, D's weird grandfather) was there, screeching indignantly and trying to get Leon away from his grandson.

Unfortunately, there was also a little voice Leon knew was his subconsciousness or something like it, that kept telling him that D was really pretty hot, no matter if he was a guy or a girl. And, gods, that guy _was_ the most girlish man Leon had ever met! He just had to remember their trip to the store and the way D had fussed around with his shoes and clothes.

Clothes Leon had chosen for him, telling himself it was solely for the purpose of proving D wrong one time, and not because he knew that tight jeans would just bring out that little ass perfectly.

Groaning, the blonde tossed over on the bed, putting an arm over his eyes. Okay, so he had been worried sick about D when he'd seen him lie there in his bed, so feverish and pale and looking like he was about to die. That didn't mean he loved the guy. It just meant that he was a friend. A very good friend, even though he nearly choked calling D his friend.

And okay, his search for D was kind of like an obsession, like Jill had put it more than once. But even that didn't mean he was in love with the guy. He'd just been doing what his little brother asked of him, nothing more.

And he'd always been good at lying to himself.

Leon had known long since that he was attracted to D. He'd told himself that _any_ straight guy would be attracted to D, what with the guy looking like a woman anyway with his long nails and porcelain skin and dresses and the way he glided more than he walked. It was no wonder he was attracted to him. Leon had finally resigned himself to it after that episode with that Vampire. It had of course only made him more irritable around the Chinese, but not enough that he would have stopped visiting him.

But he'd never even thought about acting upon that attraction. D was always so cold and distant, even when they were fighting, and Leon just couldn't imagine walking up to D and saying, "Yo, D, you're pretty hot and all, so what about a little fun?"

That just wasn't the way anyone talked to D, not even Leon.

Only now he knew D felt the same attraction towards him. And he was acting upon this attraction, although he thought Leon was hallucination. Which didn't make this situation any easier. What would he say when the pets told him the truth? Or if he found out for himself? What would he do then, huh?

This whole fuck was giving him the worst headache he'd ever had in his life. What was he supposed to do now? He knew for sure that he didn't like being chased by D. Not that he didn't appreciate being wanted, but he preferred being the predator. Plus, it didn't fit D to be the seducer instead of the seduced. Leon would rather have it vice-versa.

A knock on the door made him jerk up. "Go away!" he yelled to the door, but the knocking person didn't care. It opened and Tetsu came inside, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the frame, folded his arms and pierced the human with his glare.

"So," he said.

Leon glared back. "So what?" he asked curtly.

"So, what do you want to do?" the totetsu demanded.

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "You really think I'm gonna tell _you_?"

The totetsu shrugged. "Don't really care if or if not. Just wanted to tell you that if you should even think about leaving the Count, I'm gonna eat your ass."

"Oh, you are? I don't think so, goat!" Leon spat and Tetsu's eyes blazed. He left the door, strode over to the bad and loomed over Leon threateningly.

"You're the reason he felt like shit the last two years, and you're gonna make it up to him, understood, _human_?!" he hissed and Leon shot up.

"Fucking tiger-goat-things don't have to tell me what I've got to do!" he snapped back. "What's the matter with you anyway? Pon-chan and Ten-chan don't feel like they've got to harass me about the Count! You're in love with him, too, or what?"

The totetsu growled angrily. "I am not! But he is my master, and I want him to be happy. I screwed up enough back when he rescued me from the prison…"

His voice trailed off as his eyes went wide. Leon stared. "D got you from the prison?" he said slowly. "There're no animals in prisons, and he's never been…"

His blue eyes went even wider. "Fuck. You're the wacko cannibal."

T-chan blushed and folded his arms again defensively. "So what if I am?"

Leon continued staring and shook his head. "I don't believe it," he murmured. "That guy's just unbelievable. I can't believe he just walked into that prison and… Jesus. No wonder he wasn't sad at all when that guy killed himself. I mean – you. When you killed yourself… did you?"

Again he stared at the totetsu who waved dismissively. "Course not. That was just a human disguise. Else I couldn't be here right now, could I? Anyway, you're not sticking to the point. What are you going to do now?"

"What are _you_ going to do now?" Leon countered and leaned back. "Are you ever going to tell D I'm not his personal hallucination or are you gonna pretend forever I'm not really there?"

That got a raised eyebrow. "Ten-chan's going to tell him when you've decided. I'm just making sure you'll decide right." T-chan bared all his sharp teeth when he grinned and had the triumph of seeing Leon shudder at the sight.

"Go away. You can't scare me into staying here," he said and turned briskly. "And I'm pretty sure you won't eat me. Else you'll have to explain to Chris and he'll cry. You don't want him to cry, do you?"

With a growl, Tetsu jumped over the bed and shoved his face right in front of Leon's. "You're not worth to be the one the Count loves!" he hissed. "You don't even care for him, not half as much as he does for you!"

Leon flinched, but he stood his ground, narrowed his eyes and returned the look of pure hatred the totetsu was giving him. "Listen, bastard, I don't care how many humans you ate, I don't care if my little brother likes you, I don't even care if you're in love with D and jealous of me or not. But you're not going to tell me I'm not worth of him. Because you know fucking shit about me and my feelings, okay?"

"Oh yes?!" T-chan growled back. "All I know about you is that you shirk responsibility every chance you get. You let the Count care for your little brother, you make him feel miserable and don't give a damn about it. Q-chan's right, humans are nothing but trouble and you're the worst!"

Leon's face reddened dangerously. "Yeah, really? And because I won't take responsibility, I stayed here and helped you nurse D while he was ill? Yeah, that really sounds like you're oh-so-clever, wacko!"

"You just stayed because the shop made you!" Tetsu spat and Leon finally exploded.

"Fuck you damn bastard! You don't know shit about me! I didn't spend two years of my friggin' life searching for that bastard because I don't care for him. Because I _DO!_ I do care for him, I fucking hell love him!" he yelled.

T-chan stared at him, panting there, with flushed cheeks and a wild, lost look in his eyes.

Something in his heart finally gave way and made room for something new. "Okay," he said. "Okay. You like the Count. But do you like him enough to stay with him, perhaps forever?"

"What?" Leon's eyes lost their wild look and he stared at the totetsu uncomprehendingly.

"I asked whether you love him enough to stay with him," he repeated patiently. The blonde suddenly looked frightened.

"Geez, how am I supposed to know? Only thing I know is that I-" he blushed and pointedly looked away, embarrassed. T-chan rolled his eyes and slid down from the bed.

"Okay, okay. Got it. I'm gonna go get sure Ten-chan's going to tell the Count and you're gonna get ready to tell him you like him, or whatever. And then we'll talk about the rest."

He left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Leon wondering why exactly the totetsu had come in. He couldn't help but feeling that the pets had wanted to put him the right way.


	9. Eighth Chapter: Realising

Mornin' lads

Today it's not Enaty who's talking to you –except for the story following this comment- but her humble and miserable servant…or brother, if you prefer a shorter term for this kind of employment.

But I don't want to bore you with talking about me or my sister any more and because of this I'm going to fulfil my function as a story-uploader –some years ago, there were storytellers, books and stuff, but I guess that's the evolution in publishing literature. I hope you'll enjoy it and will now return to my other duties, like feeding the indoor plants and founding the rabbits…

Farewell…

Falk Astolat

Realising

Glass walls, wherever he tried to turn to. D sought a way out, but they surrounded him, kept him inside, crew closer, ever closer, until he felt like choking…

Gasping, the kami sat up in his bed, eyes searching wildly for a clue. Finally he realised he was indeed in his bedroom, and what had woken him were loud voices in one of the other rooms. Breathing deliberately slow, D sank back into his cushions and stared into the darkness. His head hurt. His body hurt. Everything hurt.

And it was all due to those strange glass walls inside him that kept him from thinking particular thoughts. What had happened to him? Who had made this happen to him?!

Again D sat up. In the darkness his eyes blazed. Yes, that was the question. Not what, but _who_. His kind was not easily bewitched, but that must be what had happened to him. Someone had enchanted him, had placed those glass walls inside his head to keep him from thinking… about what?

The kami very nearly swore. If he knew what they wanted to keep him from thinking, he'd know who it was, too. But so, he had not one clue as to what it was they wanted. Or perhaps it was just one person – but who could it possibly be?

His head throbbed. D closed his eyes and pressed his hands to his forehand in pain. Pain, pure, blinding, aching, tearing pain inside his head, everywhere! Why couldn't it stop? What could they want from him? Was it punishment for keeping Leon in the shop?

The voices grew louder, and the pain stronger. The kami whimpered, keeping his eyes closed so hard that little stars danced in front of them. He recognised one of the voices as Leon's. Immediately a new wave of pain hit, along with realisation. The glass walls wanted to keep him from thinking too much about Leon.

No, not Leon himself. They retreated when he thought about Leon, about how he longed to crawl into the blonde's arms and stay there for the rest of his life. They only-

This time the blaze of pain was so hard D blacked out. He fell back into the cushions, unconscious again and didn't hear the sweet voice floating through the room.

"Don't dwell on it, little D. You will remember soon enough," she murmured. "You will remember when the time is right."

#

D opened the door as silently as possible and looked inside. His heart was heavy in his chest when he looked at the human sleeping peacefully in the bed. Quickly he closed the door again and went to the front room, not wanting to drown in the painful feelings that were tearing at his heart since yesterday. All had been going so well. Okay, perhaps not too well – but at least Leon had been here. And now the kami was afraid that the human would leave once he woke.

The pets sent him questioning glances when he strode into the front room and prepared tea in silence. Usually he wasn't up this early, but he needed to distract himself from Leon. T-chan sidled away into the kitchen, bad conscience plastered all over his face. D sighed silently. He'd heard those two quarrel in the night, somewhere around morning. He hadn't dared to interrupt, still feeling like he would cry once he faced the blonde, and due to the distance between the rooms, he hadn't been able to understand what it was they were fighting about. It was just one more thing that proved him Leon would never be able to live in the pet shop. Tetsu hated him, and vice-versa. There would come one day when tension escalated and one would die. Considering the unfair balance of power, there could be no doubt as to who was going to loose that fight. So even if his grandfather could be persuaded to let Leon live, T-chan was going to kill him for sure someday. He knew he couldn't stand Leon being killed by one of his pets.

He kept those thoughts in check for most of the day. Leon didn't show up either, so D was mostly able to concentrate on his customers. A lot of people visited for a cup of tea to ask if he was alright again and what had been the matter. Ah, humans. So worried and curious about what was going on in the houses of their neighbours.

The kami patiently answered their questions, declining offers of help politely and promising that if something similar would happen again, he would call. Which of course he wouldn't, in case he ever got sick again. That was just what he needed, more humans in his shop, when he had already trouble with the one human he actually wanted to have there.

Somewhere around mid-afternoon, a woman stepped inside in search of a cat. They talked for some time, until she finally decided to take Leona with her. The black cat seemed relieved to leave the shop, sending glances at the lurking nine-tailed fox all the time. But D couldn't get rid of the feeling that she also felt cheated. Why ever she should feel like she missed out on something in the shop.

"Thank you very much, Count." The woman smiled at him and he quickly put on his business smile.

"It is my pleasure, Chang-san. Please take good care of Leona."

She stroked the cat's head and she purred in delight. "I will," the woman promised. Then her eyes caught sight of something behind the Chinese. "Why, hello!"

He froze. There was no need to turn around. Leon's presence was enough.

"Hello," the blonde repeated, walking around the Count to shake the offered hand. "You'll take her?" He pointed to the cat. She, as well as every other pet in the shop, seemed to hold her breath. Ten-chan had taken a few steps forward as if he wanted to stop Leon, but now he was just standing there, looking helpless. D couldn't explain what was going on here. But he suddenly felt confused, too. Something was wrong with this situation. Terribly wrong. But the glass wall in his head stood firm and prevented him again from finding out what it was.

Meanwhile, Leon was chattering with the woman. "You're here to visit the Count?" she asked and blinked at him. Hot jealousy flared in D's chest, but he willed himself to walk over to the tea table and sit down, turning his back to the humans. Leon would not like him to intervene, and D didn't want another fight with him.

"Yeah, just here for a few days. Gonna leave again soon, however. Just dropped by to say hello."

"Oh, that's sad. You are friends with the Count?"

The blonde cleared his throat. "Well, yes. Kind of," he said carefully. D poured himself a cup of tea, concentrating on keeping his hand steady. The pets' heads were swivelling between him and the human, as if watching a tennis match. The voices of them were the only sound in the silent shop. D felt like his head would burst any second, as well as his heart.

"That's really nice. Do you like Tokyo so far?"

"Yes, thank you, it's a nice city. Very big, though. Much more crowded than the cities I know."

The responding voices seemed to trigger something in D.

The woman was talking to Leon. The _woman_ was _talking_ to _Leon._

"Well, I do hope you'll have a nice vacation," she said, smiled at the blonde a last time and left. Leon turned back to the table, looking slightly uncomfortable, but D was too busy thinking to care for it. His head was spinning. Something was wrong with this scene. Why did he have the feeling that she shouldn't be able to talk to Leon?!

The kami almost spilled his tea as realisation at last hit him. He was not _real_. Leon was a hallucination. No one but D should be able to see him, because he was the only one who'd drunk the tea with the herb.

The second impact was due to another realisation. The woman had been able to see Leon. He'd been talking to Leon the whole time in front of his pets. They had not objected.

The glass wall in his head gave way and the memories rushed in again. The kami froze as several other scenes popped up in his head, cup freezing in mid-air.

T-chan, who'd been quarrelling with Leon and rushed out the second D came in. The second place setting in his room whenever he retreated to be alone with the 'hallucination'. The sign on the door, not written by his own hand. The girls in that café.

The more he remembered, the more became clear. Leon, at first so surprised by his advances and then slowly giving in. His behaviour must have confused the human thoroughly, no doubts about that. Gods, he had chased him like an animal!

D sat down his cup, admirably calm. It only clinked a little bit. Then he stood and went away without another word. Leon watched him go open-mouthed.

#

He didn't know where they came from, but the tears wouldn't stop welling up in his eyes and running down his cheeks. D stifled a sob in his sheets, even though he rather felt like screaming out loud. It was not only embarrassment that raged through his mind. Shame, regret, fear, they all mixed up to one black storm in his heart and he didn't know how to stop it. He didn't even know if he wanted to. Drowning in this storm never to wake again seemed like a considerable option, and not the worst.

Clawing his fingers into the silken covers of his bed, D suppressed another scream that lingered in his throat and desperately wanted to break free. _No. It will scare the pets. Pull yourself together!_ he reprimanded himself.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he honestly believe that the tea lasted so long? He knew all about his herbs that was to know, and still he hadn't even wondered why the vision of Leon was still there after more than a week. The sign on the door. The pets' reaction to what for them would've seemed like truly strange behaviour if they couldn't see Leon. They hadn't even cared. Not one had even asked why the Count was talking to himself sometimes.

Well, at least that question had been answered now. No one wondered why one talked to a real person.

The question was more, why had they kept silent? Why hadn't they told him that Leon was no hallucination? They must've been aware that D thought as much.

On the other hand, they hadn't known he'd put a wrong ingredient in his tea. But then, they had obviously tried not to talk to Leon at all at first. So they must have known that he thought him to be a vision. Or did they? Why had they not done anything? Why hadn't they asked, or anything? Why had they tried to keep the illusion until he himself took Leon for real?

Exhausted D rested his head on his bed. He couldn't even think straight. The thoughts kept whirling round in his head, leaving him no time to think. But one stood out from the chaos like neon signs.

_What shall I do now?_

Leon couldn't stay, that was for sure. He just couldn't. His grandfather would kill the human if he found out.

But even the simple thought of sending his Leon away made D moan in pain. His heart felt like being ripped apart.

_Everything was going so well just now! He didn't leave at once after that incident in the pool. He even went shopping with me. Perhaps he does love me. Or at least like me. I can't let him go, I just can't!_

D tried to shut this little inner voice up, but it was no use. It just kept on screaming, fighting against his reason.

_I can't! I can't live without him anymore! I love him!_

There was no other way. He was what he was. And Leon was a human. There was no way for the two of them, especially considering that he didn't even know if the blonde would want a 'the two of them'.

His hands again clenched into the soft silk. Leon had sat here, on his bed, beside him. He'd cared for him, and nursed him and been so – _affectionate._

_I don't want it to be over. I want Leon to be here. I want him to be by my side, even if he doesn't love me back. I just want him to be here._

Someone banged on the door. "Count!" he heard T-chan yell. "Count, open the door! We can explain everything! Please!"

Pon-chan joined in. "Count, we wanted to tell you, we swear! It was just bad luck!"

_So they knew the whole time. Wonder who recognized the wrong ingredient. Probably T-chan._

"Why?" the kami asked before he could stop himself. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The pets in front of the door were silent for a long moment. It was T-chan who spoke at last.

"We're sorry, Count. We just – we didn't think. Leon was suddenly there and then you fainted and he stayed the whole time and nursed you. And we noticed the way you looked at him… and the way he looked at you."

The kami heard him draw a deep, ragged breath. "And you looked so happy, both of you. I know you think we didn't notice that you were pretty down after you pushed him from the ship, but we did. We're neither deaf nor dumb."

The Count stayed where he was, kneeling beside his bed, head resting on the sheets. The totetsu took another deep breath. "We just wanted you to be happy," he added with a fading voice.

The tears flowed over his cheeks like two little salty rivers. But he had his voice under control when he ordered them. "Tell Leon to leave. I never want to see him again. Tell him to leave and never come back."

Much to his chagrin, T-chan had the audacity to argue. "But, Count!" he protested.

D's head snapped round. "GO!" he bellowed, for the first time in his life. "Go and tell him to leave at once!"

None dared to argue any further. He heard them shuffle away, whispering to themselves and let his head rest on the covers again. A deep sob made his chest heave.

D knew it was cowardly. But he was sure that he couldn't face the human again, not after his behaviour, not with what he had to do. So he just stayed in his room, door locked, and waited for Leon to leave.

#

Leon's head was resting on his folded hands when they arrived in the front room again. His breath sounded slightly ragged, but obviously he was managing not to cry. Ten-chan gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"We're sorry, Leon. We didn't want this to happen," he excused. The blonde didn't look up when he nodded.

"I know," he mumbled. "What did D say?"

They hesitated and exchanged glances. Now the human raised his head and looked at them. "Don't have to tell me what he said. I already know. He wants me to leave, doesn't he?"

T-chan nodded hesitatingly. "I'm sorry, Leon," he said silently. His enemy smiled at him.

"That's the way of the world, I guess. Just tell me why."

"He thinks it's best for you," the fox answered. Leon snorted unbelievingly.

"Thanks very much, I think I'm old enough to know myself what's best for me."

Pon-chan cut in. She climbed onto Leon's lap and snuggled against him, trying to comfort him. "No, Leon, that's not the point. It's because of Q-chan. He would probably try to kill you if he knew about you and the Count."

T-chan cast a glance at the nine-tailed fox and noticed to his astonishment that his lips were pressed together tightly. He looked positively furious. _What's the matter with him lately? He's behaving as strange as D and Leon!_

The sudden move startled the totetsu when Ten-chan walked over to Leon and sat down beside him. "Don't give up, Leon," he urged the human. "Go and talk to the Count. Don't let him push you away a second time!"

A lopsided grin appeared on the blonde's face. "Thanks, Ten-chan, but to your information, I hadn't planned to let him do that again anyway. I'm sick of being pushed around by gods or whatever the hell it is D is. It's time someone teaches the D family that they can't just do what they want whenever they want."

Though none of the pets would've put it like that, they silently agreed with the human. Leon pushed himself up from the couch and went straight into the back of the shop, the pets trailing after him, hoping that he would set matters right.

#

"D, c'mon, open the door! Please!" Leon pleaded. He could hear the pets whispering in the corridors, but none came close. He glared in their direction and the whispers faded. He hoped that they'd gone. He didn't need them to listen to what he told D.

"Please, Detective, leave," a hoarse voice whispered on the other side of the door. "I am very sorry not to be able to say you good-bye properly, but I am afraid it's for the best if I don't."

"D, cut the crap. What're you even talking 'bout? Why should I leave? C'mon, you cannot _want_ me to leave. I mean, the way you acted the last few days – you just cannot want me to go away and never come back."

Silence behind the door. Leon sighed and sat down in front of it. "I'm not moving till I've got some answers, D," he threatened. The kami kept silent but the blonde knew that he knew he'd do just as he'd said.

Some minutes passed before D spoke again, his voice barely audible through the wooden door. "You are right, Detective. I cannot let you go without at least thanking you for your efforts and excusing my behaviour. I-" his voice quivered, "I did not want to make you uncomfortable or sad. Please believe me, that was my last intention."

Leon bumped his head against the door in frustration. "Now listen to me, you little Chinese brat," he started and heard a silent sob from the other side of the door. Concerned he shot up and banged on the door. "Damn, D, stop crying! Let me in, _now_!"

No response.

"I'll break down that friggin' door if you won't let me in!" the blonde screamed, causing a frightened whisper in the corridors. Whirling round, he snarled, "And you all, fuck off! That's none of your business here, so leave us alone!"

Before he could continue screaming at the pets, the door opened a crack and D's pale face appeared in it. "I do not want you in my room, Detective," he choked.

"Yeah, as if I'd ever cared whether you wanted me anywhere or not," Leon bawled and pushed it open. D stumbled back and tried to regain his composure while the human slammed the door shut. Then he leaned against it with folded arms.

"So, D, and now we're gonna talk. What the fuck has _got_ into you? At first you're hitting on me like I-don't-know-what and the moment you realise I'm not a hallucination, you lock yourself up in your room and never want to see me again!"

The kami averted his gaze. "I am so sorry, Detective," he whispered.

"Leon. My name is Leon!" the American snapped, at the end of his tether.

D didn't respond. Leon strode over and grabbed him by the shoulders roughly. "Okay, is this about the fact that I'm not a hallucination or is this about you being ashamed to have admitted to be in love with me?" he demanded. D flinched and continued to stare at the wall, a blush creeping up in his cheeks.

"Damn you, D, look at me! Do you think it's easy for me or what? Do you think I'm not completely freaking, too? I mean-" he let go of the Count and threaded his hand through his hair desperately, "I mean, all my life I was all straight and everything, never once even _looked_ at a guy, and then some Chinese bastard looking like a woman appears out of the blue and turns my whole worldview upside down! And I'm not only talking about the sexual orientation deal. Do you think that's easy for me, either?"

He glared at the Count and saw to his horror that tears were streaming down his face. Helplessly he reached for him and then withdrew his hands again.

"D, please, don't cry!" he pleaded. "I'll go, okay? I'll leave and you'll never have to see me again, if that's want you want. Just – don't cry. I didn't know what to do with crying women and I for sure have not the slightest clue what to do with a crying god."

D laughed beneath tears and slung his arms around Leon. "That's just like you, Detective," he murmured and sniffled a little. "I'm so – I'm so –" and he buried his head in Leon's shoulder and cried.

The blonde stood there completely baffled. At last he raised his hands and carefully took D in his arms. "We'll find a way, somehow," he murmured into his ear. "You're a god or at least something like it. I'm sure there'll be a way. I'm just too mulish to give up, you know that."

The tears dried. D rested his head on Leon's shoulder and sighed deeply. Somehow his detective's presence convinced him that there just _had_ to be a way for the two of them. And he was willing to do anything as long as Leon wanted him.

#

"What's happening? What's happening?!" T-chan hissed and tried to elbow Ten-chan to the side. But the fox was persistent and managed to keep his place in front of the keyhole.

"They're cuddling," he informed the excited pets. "Leon's taken the Count into his arms and it looks like they're both not too unhappy with that."

Pon-chan squealed in delight as did some of the other pets. T-chan snorted dismissively. "They're not even kissing? Geez, one would think Leon's a little bit more experienced in those matters the way he acts all the time!" he murmured disappointed and was regarded with glares from his fellow pets. "What?! He's the one always hitting on chicks!" he defended himself and turned away, sulking und muttering not very nice things under his breath. Actually, he was delighted at the developments. But one had to keep a reputation.

"Oh la la!" Ten-chan voiced and the totetsu spun round again.

"What? What are they doing?"

The nine-tailed fox turned round and shooed the pets away, covering the keyhole with a curtain. "I think we should leave them their privacy now," he announced, grinning wickedly. A murmur of disappointment rose, but he stood firm. "Even the Count and Leon have to have a little bit of privacy. I suggest we all go to the front room and see if there are leftovers from tea-time."

The pets obeyed the command though muttering and went to the front room. T-chan and Pon-chan sidled up to Ten-chan inconspicuously. "So, what were they doing?" T-chan asked slyly. The fox whispered something in their ears and the totetsu's eyes started to gleam. "No way! Really?! _Nice_!"

#

Luckily neither Leon nor D had any idea that they'd had spectators. Perhaps the Count wouldn't have minded much (animals didn't have much privacy in nature, either), but the human for sure had other ideas about intimacies in view of someone. (Especially if that 'someone' implied T-chan. A truce didn't mean peace, and peace didn't mean friendship, after all.)

They'd decided that the bed would offer much more comfort than standing in the middle of the room and were now laying there, D snuggled up against Leon's side. His hand was painting invisible patterns on the blonde's chest.

"So, you're in love with me, too?" he purred and rested his head in Leon's armpit. The human cleared his throat.

"I don't know if you should call it 'love'," he murmured uneasily. D guessed that he should've been taken aback by this, but he was not.

"Well, we might agree that you like me. A lot," he suggested and threaded his other hand through blonde hair.

Leon's body relaxed. "Yeah, that sounds okay to me," he mumbled sleepily.

D smiled silently. Perhaps Leon might not be able to say it loud, but he knew now that the human loved him. And weren't human males known to balk at saying those words? Well, what Leon did anyway spoke louder than what he said. Searching D for two years all over the world, giving up his job to be able to do so, keeping watch at his bedside – could he ask for more proof?

"Grandfather will not be happy," D murmured when a thought occurred to him. He felt Leon's grin.

"Bet my ass that he won't. Stupid little bat-thingy."

"Please, Leon, you're talking about my grandfather," the kami admonished, but not very sharply. He felt exhausted and secure and content.

"What about a short nap?" Leon mumbled and drew D even closer to him.

"If you want to, I won't keep you from sleeping, my dear Leon," he answered and pulled the covers over the both of them. The blonde yawned widely.

"I feel like I need one. Geez, D, you're the most complicated lover I've ever had," he said sleepily. "Not that I mind. Much. I think I can handle you by now."

D placed a light kiss on his lips. „Sleep, Leon, my love. Don't worry. I'll try to make myself handable."

Leon chuckled. His eyes closed. "Please don't, D. I like you much better the way you are."

The room fell silent. Only the slow breaths of the two sleeping men could be heard. A feeling as if someone was smiling spread through the chamber and the curtains of the four-poster bed stirred as if a soft wind had touched them. D and Leon slept on, for the moment blissfully unaware of any complications their love would arise.


	10. Ninth Chapter: Threatening

Hooray, I'm back! And that means, another chapter is here, too…

Guys, I have a plea: please be so kind and say "thank you" to my lil'bro in any review you might want to leave. Because really, it was very, very nice of him to upload the eighth chapter, considering the fact he doesn't even like this story (nothing to do with PSoH, though, he just doesn't like the pairing. Honestly, boys are strange!).

And, if you do not mind, I will stop answering reviews now until the story is finished, because anything I would write would spill something, and none of us wants to ruin the surprise, now, do we? So just let me say THANK YOU for the reviews. One of the first things when I arrived home was looking if I got any, and I was _so_ happy when I saw them. Really, really thank you all!

Well then, go on and have fun :-) So long, Enaty

Threatening

A kiss. A kiss was placed on his mouth, light and almost shy. Another followed close, another light peck, just barely brushing his mouth with soft, tender lips.

Leon didn't dare open his eyes, afraid he might cause the kissing one to stop. He willed his body to relax, though he could feel it responding to those gentle touches. He didn't think this would be good.

But damn, why had D's lips to feel so soft? And why did he have to murmur silent little Chinese phrases into Leon's ear between the kisses, phrases the blonde didn't understand, but that he got the meaning of anyway? And why was D's body snuggled comfortably along Leon's body, half-lying on him and letting him feel how fragile that slim body was, and how pliable against his own?

This was just not fair. Leon knew that D would be very taken aback if he tried to do something now, he just _knew_ it. Fucking a hallucination and fucking a real, living human was a whole different kettle of fish.

Besides, Leon himself felt too clumsy, too, to have a try at it. He didn't know anything about sleeping with a guy and he was pretty sure if he got started with D, retreating would be very difficult. Gods, his whole body yearned for the feel of this slender, delicate figure against it! And of course right now his mind provided him again with the image of said body in the pool of a hot fountain, the memory of the wet skin against his own, the weight on his lap…

Life was just _not fair._

A quiet knock on the door saved him further torments. D let go of him and left the bed, walking to the door with bare feet, as Leon discerned from a careful glance through his lashes. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. The kami opened a crack and then whispered with whoever was standing in front of it. The blonde could pretty much guess who it would be and decided now would be a good time to fake waking up, while D was still distracted.

He sat up, deliberately causing enough noise to make D turn around. His heart filled with warmth when he saw the love in those mismatched eyes. "Morning, D," he said and yawned widely. His jaw cracked.

"Good morning, Leon," D answered softly and came back to the bed, leaving the door slightly ajar. Ten-chan took his chance at slipping inside and taking a good look of the bedroom. Seeing that Leon was still in his clothes, he raised an eyebrow and grinned at the blonde mockingly.

"It seems you had a good night's rest," he said slyly and Leon blushed.

"Can't remember since when that's your business," he growled back. The fox looked utterly insulted.

"Oh, believe me, Leon, it is. My room is next to the Count's bedroom," he mentioned and delighted in the horrified look on Leon's face.

"Now, Ten-chan, please!" D cut in, cheeks not as pale as usual. "There is no reason to insinuate that Leon and I –" he stopped and blushed furiously. "We did nothing," he said firmly and sat down in front of the big dressing table, thus turning his back to both human and fox.

Leon tweaked one eye together and stared at Ten-chan. "You've got a dirty imagination, Ten-chan."

"I bet it can't hold a candle to yours." The fox was always ready with a good repartee, but he took pity on his master and the human and made a peace offering. "Do you wish to have breakfast in here or would you rather eat in the front room?" he asked and played with his braid. D cast a careful glance into Leon's direction, who shrugged.

"I don't care. You decide. I'm gonna take a shower first anyway," he announced and climbed out of bed.

"Your clothes are over there," D said and pointed to a chair.

Leon rummaged around in his duffel and found what he was looking for. "I'll be in the bathroom," he said and vanished behind the door, missing D turning around and staring at his back. Ten-chan eyed his master and quickly pressed a hand to his mouth to suppress the laugh that was bubbling up in his throat.

"I'll be preparing breakfast!" he murmured and beat a hasty retreat, not daring to laugh until he was back in the kitchen.

T-chan turned around as he stumbled inside, holding his sides with laughter. "Oh, _gods_!" he panted and sat down on the floor unwillingly. "We've gotta teach Leon how to sleep with a guy, because if not, he and the Count are never going to do anything at all!"

The totetsu turned back to his frying pan grumpily. "And that's all you've gotta tell?" he asked curtly. The nine-tailed fox put up a knee and propped his chin on it. His eyes sparkled amused.

"No, it's not all I've gotta tell. But I really doubt you'll be very interested to hear what the Count had to tell Leon while he thought he was asleep. Which, in fact, he wasn't, but that doesn't matter, because the Count wasn't bold enough to tell him in English anyway, and in case Leon still hasn't learned to speak Chinese in the last few hours, he probably didn't understand anything."

Tetsu looked like he was about to vomit. "_So_ not interested," he announced and Ten-chan grinned even wider.

"Thought so."

His friend changed the subject, feeling uncomfortable. "Any ideas yet who the guy was that bewitched the Count?"

He was standing with his back to the fox, so he couldn't see the sudden alertness creeping up in his eyes. "Not yet," he said and leaned against a cupboard.

"Could it have been Q-chan?" T-chan continued, expertly turning over the pancakes.

Ten-chan shook his head. "Why ever should the Count's grandfather decide to make him believe Leon's real? If it would've been Q-chan, he would've made the Count ignore Leon completely, and if possible, forget he ever existed."

Tetsu shrugged. "Was just a thought. I mean, who else would take an interest in those two? Apart from us, I mean, and I'm pretty sure there's no pet in this shop that would be able to bewitch the Count that way."

"Well, perhaps there are some other gods who think they'd be a sweet couple?" the fox suggested and now T-chan turned to stare at him. Ten-chan shrugged and grinned. "Was just a thought," he said easily and stood up again, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, T-chan, it'll be alright, I'm sure. I mean, whoever it is, he or she can't want anything bad for them, now, can she? Why should she first make them come together only to part them again?"

He strode from the kitchen, leaving Tetsu with a furrowed brow and an ever growing suspicion.

#

A low hiss pierced through the darkness in the room. Eyes snapped open and gleamed in the blackness, animals started hissing as well. The slim figure standing at the window turned back to the crouching shadow.

"Are you sure?" she growled. The shadow nodded and stood up a little. It was a child, ears strangely long and topped by silvery hairs.

"Yes, Count, I am. It is what I heard from the birds, and they are trustworthy," it replied.

Sofu D stepped from the window, golden eyes blazing with fury. "How dare he?" he murmured, fists trembling with rage. "How dare he come to the shop again when it has been made clear that he isn't welcome there?"

The animals, feeling his fury, screeched, partly because they were afraid, partly because they were angry, too. The Count swept over and snatched his cloak. "This is intolerable," he grumbled. "Why didn't he call me if he was sick? Now it will be nearly impossible to get rid of that human!"

Closing the cloak, he turned and ordered the pets. "Take care of my great-grandson. I will be back soon. Behave, you all."

Then he took off, changing shape. The little batbunny determinedly set course for Tokyo, Japan.

#

"Tell me."

Leon's voice was calm and solemn. D hesitated and sent him a shy glance. "What do you want to know?" he asked. The blonde shrugged.

"Dunno. Everything. Are we in danger? What about your father and grandfather?"

D sighed softly and played idly with his teacup. They were sitting in the front room, having dinner with the animals. The shop was closed. Not that it would change anything whether Sofu D would be angry about the shop being closed or about Leon being here. So the kami had figured he could as well keep it closed. They had spent the day introducing Leon to the shop. To Philippe, who had been delighted to at last meet the famous Leon Orcot, to Chris' other friends. Not to Honlon yet, though. D didn't want to overstrain the blonde, and he figured a dragon might still be beyond his comfort zone, even though he'd taken everything else quite well.

"Grandfather is very angry," he answered silently. "I can feel it. If we want to avoid trouble, we should leave as soon as possible. I cannot discern what he will do. But I am pretty sure he will try to kill you."

Leon snorted disparagingly. "Well, he wouldn't be the first one to try that. So far none has succeeded."

"We're not talking about some human, Leon," D reminded him. For the first time the blonde was able to hear a little quiver in that voice. "We are talking about my grandfather, and I am not sure whether I would be able to protect you from him. Leaving would for now be the best solution."

"You wanna move back to America?" Leon's voice was hesitant, and he didn't look at the kami. D's gaze wandered through the room, over the pets listening to them, the furniture, the teacups on the table and came to rest on the form of the blonde, trying to sound casual and failing. He smiled, stood and sat down beside Leon, placing a light hand on his arm.

"If you want to go back to America, we shall do so," he conceded. "I would like to see Chris again, too. But we cannot move back to Los Angeles. I am far too known there. It would cause problems."

Leon looked down on the hand on his arm and smiled, too. He carefully laid his own hand over it. D's eyes went wide. He started to beam.

"That's fine with me. My old friends think I'm mad anyway. Not Jill, but well, we can visit her if we want to. You said we could go wherever we want to with this thing?"

D nodded, a little breathless. "Yes. We do not have to concern us with any paperwork or other things humans thought up. We can just go."

"I'd really like to visit China," Leon said thoughtfully. D's breathing became ever more difficult.

"You would?"

"Yeah, why not? I wanna see at least where you come from. If it's okay with you," he added hastily, searching the kami's face, but finding nothing but happiness there.

"I would love to show you," he said softly.

T-chan's snort snapped them out. D quickly averted his gaze, blushing, while Leon cleared his throat. "Well, I guess we should be off to bed, then. It's been a long day," he mumbled. D, still beet-red, nodded. The blonde got up and held out his hand. "C'mon, D. Night, you monsters."

"Goodnight, Count! Sleep well, Leon!" the pets answered synchronously, more or less successfully hiding their broad grins. Leon blushed, too, and they vanished into the back.

#

Ten-chan watched his master and Leon with glinting eyes, smiling contentedly. When Leon finally reached out for D to lead him to the back of the shop, he tweaked his eye and slipped down from his observation spot. Carefully making sure no one was paying him any attention, he sidled to the door, opened it a crack and slipped out.

T-chan on the sofa stretched luxuriously and got up, too. Now where would Ten-chan want to go to at this time of night? He didn't know, but he was going to find out soon. Not that he suspected his friend to be in league with Q-chan. But still, the fox had been acting strangely, too. And Tetsu was determined to find out what was going on here.

The fox went down a little dark alley right behind the shop, sending alert glances around. T-chan smiled grimly and hid in the shadows. Ten-chan's senses might be good, but not good enough to sense him if he didn't want him to. Gliding through the darkness as if he was a shadow himself, he followed the nine-tailed fox to a dark corner of the alley. There he stopped and knelt down. Tetsu remained silent, watching everything from a hiding place behind a few cartons.

He could hear Ten-chan whispering something, though he was too far away to understand what it was. But it sounded like an incantation. His fur stood and he bared his teeth, suppressing a growl. So much for 'I don't know who has bewitched the Count'. It seemed pretty clear that he knew very well who was responsible for it.

The totetsu's thought trailed off as the air in front of the fox started to shine with a glowing light. His jaw dropped as power, pure, blinding power rippled through the alleyway. Oh yes. This one was without any doubt powerful enough to bewitch even someone like the Count.

Now he only had to find out who exactly it was.

#

D looked into the mirror for about the tenth time in the last five minutes and brushed his silken hair a third. Why in all heavens was he so nervous? It wasn't as if Leon hadn't already slept in his bed…

The remarkable difference was that the last time the blonde had done so, D had been unconscious and fighting with the fever. Today he was well and Leon was not there to nurse him.

"What the hell are you doing in there so long, D? I swear, you're worse than any girlfriend I've ever had. C'mon, I'm tired," Leon called out to his lover and shook his head when the bathroom door slowly opened. The kami appeared, dressed in one of his silken pyjamas, dark blue today. The blonde noticed the blush on his cheeks and had to hide a smile behind his hand. _As long as I was a hallucination, all I could do was keep him from fucking me at any given chance. But once he notices that I'm real, he's as shy as a new bride. _

The kami hesitated and looked at his lover through a dark curtain of hair uncertainly. Leon patted the bed beside him. "I don't bite, D, you should know that by now." Grinning, he added, "Well, not much. And not when you're entering the bed."

Blushing even more, D made his way to the bed and snuggled in, careful to keep a distance to Leon. The blonde sighed inwardly, but turned and switched off the lights. They lay in the darkness, each trying to decide what to do now. At last Leon reached for D and felt him shudder slightly when his hand touched the Chinese's body.

"D, please. I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do. Would you please come closer now?" he pleaded, an exasperated note in his voice. He felt embarrassment radiate off D like heat.

"If you insist," he relented hesitatingly and skidded ten centimetres closer. Growing tired with the fussing, the blonde pulled him against him and slung his arms around D's shoulders and waist. The kami's body was stiff and uneasy. Leon nuzzled his nose into D's hair and breathed in deeply.

"You smell nice," he murmured.

"Thank you," D answered quietly. Strong hands started to caress his stomach and played with his hair. Unintentionally he stiffened even more. Thoroughly confused he tried to make his body relax. _What's the matter with me? I _wanted _this. I even tried to seduce Leon in the pool! Why am I so afraid now?_

"Relax, D," a soft voice murmured in his ear. "I'm far too tired to have sex with you. And I don't know enough about sex with another guy anyway."

That was Leon live. Straightforward telling his mind, no matter what the consequences.

D chuckled and let his body ease. Leon's hands still caressed him and he curiously explored the feelings they were causing in him. The most predominant was warmth. It spread from where the hands touched him through the silk and filled his body with a strange contentedness.

At first he just enjoyed being stroked, but after a few minutes, he snuggled closer to his human and started to return the caresses. Carefully minding his nails, he let his hands glide over Leon's back and through his hair, causing a little sound of pleasure from his lover. A light kiss was placed on his lips.

"See? It's nothing to be afraid of," Leon murmured, his breath tickling his ear. D was thankful he didn't mention that it actually wasn't something new. Because even if he had touched Leon in the pool, it _had_ been different when he still thought him to be a hallucination.

Hands went over silk and cotton, not demanding, but giving. Bodies huddled against each other, trying to touch as much as possible. D buried his head in Leon's shoulder and breathed in his lover's enticing scent. He giggled when the blonde touched a little spot just beneath his elbow and unintentionally tickled him. Leon kissed his throat in response and the kami delighted in the feel of his human's soft lips against his skin.

Slowly, almost lazily, Leon's hand wandered under D's shirt and caressed the soft skin there. A deep sound of contentment, almost a purr, made its way from D's throat and he closed his eyes in delight. Leon's lips nibbled at his ear and D burrowed his hand in the blonde hair. He let his fingertips glide over the rim of the cotton tee Leon wore and explored the skin beneath the fabric.

The touches caused sleepy warmth in him. D yawned and felt another kiss on his cheek. "Good idea, lovely," Leon said quietly and pulled him very close. D snuggled up along the larger body gladly, secure in strong arms. "Good night, D."

"Just a moment before you sleep, Leon."

The kami felt his lover wonder. "What is it?"

In the darkness he cradled Leon's cheek in his hand and kissed him sweetly, lovingly. Leon returned the kiss softly until D ended it. "Good night, Leon," he whispered.

#

"Does everything go according to plan?" the hooded figure whispered. The nine-tailed fox nodded, wiggling his tails in delight.

"Better than anticipated, Mistress. They haven't yet decided what to do, but I think they'll stay together," he asserted. T-chan could almost hear the smile in the husky voice when it spoke again.

"Good. I trust you, little one. Do not forget: no one is to know about this, especially not Leon and the youngest Count D. Not yet."

"I'll take it to my grave," Ten-chan swore solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.

"Good. Thank you, little fox." The figure started to vanish. He bowed deeply.

"It is my honour to serve you, Mistress."

The second it was gone, T-chan emerged from his hiding place and flung himself at the surprised fox, growling. "Who was that?" he snarled, fuming with rage. "And what kind of deal do you have with her?"

"T-chan, leave me be!" Ten-chan struggled in vain to free himself, but the totetsu was much stronger than he was. "She's not here to harm anyone, I promise you!"

"Oh yes? What plan was she talking about? Is she the reason that the Count was so ill?" T-chan understood a lot and he tolerated a lot. But one had to draw the line somewhere. And his personal line was where someone threatened his friends and his master. And even Leon.

Not because of the American, though (he told himself). But the Count obviously loved the human, and T-chan was willing to do almost everything for his master, even if it meant putting up with Leon Orcot.

Ten-chan stopped struggling and lay still. "I swear, T-chan, she does not want to hurt the Count. I can only guess if she's the one responsible for the Count's sickness, but I'd say yes." The totetsu squeezed his throat and he choked. "Damn it, Tetsu, listen to me first! Do you really think I'd do anything to harm the Count? Or Leon? Do you really think that?"

The grip on his throat was eased slightly. "No," the tiger-goat answered. "No, I do not. But even you could have been tricked into something. And now with Q-chan in a fury, we cannot be careful enough."

The mysterious smile appeared on the fox's face again. "Yes, but I'm telling you: if we want to stand our ground to the Count's grandfather, she's absolutely the best person to have on your side."

T-chan released him. "How so?" he asked, confused. The smile widened into a wicked grin while the fox rubbed his sore throat. The totetsu was damn hell strong.

"Let's just say, even the D family has had to made certain – concessions – in the past. She's just gathering one of them," he answered. Then he turned and walked back into the shop. T-chan trailed after him, thoroughly confused and deep in thought.

#

There was a storm, but that was not going to stop him. Not the lightning, not the thunder, and not even the wind, though the small batbunny had to fight hard to keep moving steadily. But it would manage. It had managed so many storms over the years, and this one wasn't by far the worst.

While it proceeded on its way, Sofu D mused over the whole affair with his grandson. It was unacceptable, of course. His grandson knew this. Why did he do it all the same? It couldn't go well. Not those two. They were – too different. They weren't even the same species! How was it supposed to work?

Still, he had the growing suspicion that it wasn't only his grandson who was responsible for this affair. For a second he forgot to bat his wings and a heavy blow whirled him around. He struggled to get back to his pace, to fly even faster. She wouldn't dare. She couldn't dare.

Or could she?


	11. Tenth Chapter: Loving

Heigh-ho dear readers!

Thank you all for the reviews, and for reading. This is, sad as the announcement is, actually the last chapter of 'Terrible Tea'. Please do not kill me – there will be an epilogue, and all of your questions will be answered (at least I hope so. If not, write me, I'll try to answer them).

Anyways, I do hope you'll enjoy the last real chapter. It's a little bit longer, too, because actually I found out writing it that I still had a lot of things to tell you. Have fun and so long, Enaty :-)

Loving

Waking up beside Leon was something D had wanted for many years. And now that he could do it, he nearly wasn't able to believe his luck. He carefully touched Leon's face and bent forward to press a kiss to his lips.

The next thing he knew, strong arms were slung around his waist and he was being drawn to Leon's body. "Morning, D," the blonde said silently. "Had a good night?"

The kami's heart beat so fast he was almost sure it would jump out of his chest. "Yes, thank you," he whispered. Leon loosened one arm and brought his hand to the side of his face, caressing it carefully.

"What was that you were telling me yesterday morning?" he asked and D blushed.

"You – you were awake?!" he stuttered and tried to pull away. Leon nodded.

"Woke sometime, but didn't understand anything. Only got it weren't insults this time."

He was teasing him. Leon was teasing D, and he didn't get angry at once. Love surely was full of surprises.

"I will tell you someday again, Leon," he promised and looked around. "But now we have to get up. We have to move the shop, and I still have to prepare a lot."

"Okay."

Leon didn't loosen his hold on D's body. If anything, he pulled him even closer. D blinked down at him, closed eyes, peaceful face and a smile on his lips. "Leon, we have to stand up," he reminded him.

"I know," was the calm answer. D struggled a little.

"You must let me go if we want to flee my grandfather," he said helplessly, not wanting to try his greater strength against his lover. It wouldn't be fair. And besides, this felt far too good to pry himself loose.

Leon blinked up at him. "Let you go? Nah. Rather not. Who knows if you'll come back?"

D relaxed and laughed softly. "Leon, please. I promise, I won't leave you again. Ever." He sealed his promise with a kiss, which, he suspected, was exactly what the blonde had hoped for. Well, D didn't see any reason to deprive him of it.

Though he had to admit that the desire building in his body was getting rather strong with Leon's mouth on his. And this was not a good time to be doing this.

"Leon!" he mumbled, coming up and gasping for air for a second, before being pulled down for another deep kiss.

"I know," the blonde answered silently. His hand vanished under D's top again and the kami arched into the touch, barely suppressing a moan. He pressed his eyes shut until he saw stars dancing in front of them. "Just a second…"

The sudden knock at the door rescued them before the second could become a minute and the cuddling something much more serious. D jerked up and nearly fell out of the bed in his haste to get to the door. T-chan was standing in front of it, regarding both of them somberly.

"Please don't tell me anything," he said at once, noticing his master's flushed face and the wild look in his eyes. "Just get ready and come get breakfast. As for everything else, I don't want to know."

Leon grinned broadly. "Hope your chamber's next to this room, too," he teased and the totetsu glared at him.

"We will be there in a minute," D cut both short before another fight could start and quickly closed the door again. "Leon, please, can't you stop? You will both have to deal with each other in the future," he pleaded and the blonde looked up from his pile of clothes surprised.

"Whaddya mean? We're fine, Tetsu and me," he said surprised.

D regarded the human for a second, looked at the door and decided he didn't have to understand them. He would be content if they stopped trying to kill each other, and so far, they only bickered. He just hoped it would stay that way.

"Please take durable clothes," he said and opened the door to the bathroom. "We will have to fetch some herbs before we can move the shop, and they are difficult to get."

#

Two hours later they were in one of the shop's many rooms, climbing some mountains that Leon declared were higher than the Himalaya while D tried to make him appreciate the fresh air and the view. On a little plateau the blonde stopped and sat down. "I'm not going any further before I've had a cigarette," he announced. Pon-chan and Ten-chan, who were with them, exchanged weary glances. D froze.

"You are not going to smoke here," he said icily.

Leon's chin set. "You bet I am! I haven't had a cigarette in _days_, because you were sick. I want one now."

D's mismatched eyes blazed and he shot to Leon, ripping the pack of cigarettes from his hand and throwing it away. "You are not going to smoke in such beautiful places!" he screamed. The blonde was dumbfounded for a second, but not for long. He jumped up, hovering over the smaller kami threateningly. Raccoon and nine-tailed fox exchanged worried looks.

"We should stop them! They are going to quarrel again!" Pon-chan whispered, eyes huge and afraid. Ten-chan shook his head. "No, we shouldn't interfere! They have to work this out on their own," he gave back and firmly held Pon-chan in place.

Leon growled low in his throat. "You will not tell me what I do or not!"

"As long as you are in my shop, I will!" D snapped, furiously blinking back tears of rage. He wouldn't start crying in front of Leon, not because he insisted on his smoking habits.

"Gimme back my cigarettes! I'm telling you once!"

"No! It's a foul habit, it causes cancer and it pollutes the air! I won't!"

D crossed his arms in front of his body stubbornly. Leon lost his temper. "Damn you, I'm twenty-nine years old! I decide what I do or not, not you. Now give them back!"

"You will die one day because you insist on smoking such terrible stuff!" D desperately wished to have something he could throw at Leon's head, but nothing was available. So instead he shoved him.

The next thing he knew, the blonde had lost his balance and fallen over the edge of the little plateau. He stared at the place where Leon had been just moments before. Pon-chan shrieked and pushed Ten-chan away, running to the edge. "Leon!" she called. D was unable to move. It just couldn't be. Leon was not clumsy. He moved with the grace a great lion had, always alert and ready. He couldn't have…

"Dammit, D, you are really getting on my fucking nerves today!"

Leon had been surprised by D's attack. He hadn't seen it coming, and hadn't been prepared, so he himself was even more surprised than the kami when he had suddenly fallen backwards. But fortunately his reflexes were quite good, and he had only fallen two meters before he had managed to grab some grass. The mountain wasn't steep here, he wouldn't have fallen deep anyway.

Now he climbed onto the plateau again and shook his head unbelievingly. Then he saw D's wide eyes. "Don't go at me again, but I think that sickness has left something," he commented dryly. "What on earth did you do that for? Do you want to kill me?!"

D's lips felt cold. "No," he got out and shivered. Leon looked at him apprehensively. Then he put his arm around D's shoulders and led him to a grassy patch where he forced him to sit down.

"D, what on earth is the matter with you? You're acting completely crazy lately, and I don't only mean your sickness. What's the matter with you?"

The kami mumbled something indecipherable. Leon leaned closer. "What?" Now D raised bright eyes at him, gaze so intent that Leon silenced at once.

"I do not want you to die, not now or ever. Not because of lung cancer, nor because some silly human shot you, or because you become old, or because my grandfather finds you here," D said clearly, a hysterical note in his voice. "I want you to live with me, until we are both old and tired."

Leon sat there, staring down into his face, not able to move. Ten-chan tugged Pon-chan away, and they left them alone. The blonde tried to find words, but wasn't able to.

"I thought you couldn't age," he managed at last."

D shook his head, then nodded. "Yes, and no. I cannot age like humans do. But I can grow tired with living. Or I can be killed with much force. Like my father was killed."

Leon flinched, but D was oblivious to his bad conscience. "I might live forever," he said silently. "Perhaps I will. But at the moment, I do not want to live one second longer than you do. And I want to spend as much time with you as I can while I can. You could die and leave me behind any time. I do not want to watch you being sick and dying at a young age."

All the blonde could manage was a little "Oh." His throat was dry and his heart was beating hard. D's mismatched eyes were so bright and desperate. They tore at his heart.

"Well, perhaps I could – smoke once every month," he proposed hesitantly. "Or on my birthday and Christmas. Or Easter."

D's eyes focused on his face, on the present. He chuckled a little, but it was not amused. One hand caressed Leon's face. "Dear Leon," he said softly. "There is so much you do not understand – that you never can understand about me – do not think about it. It is not your concern, but mine. Just stay with me."

Leon caught the hand and kissed the palm. "Why don't you try me?" he asked, not daring to look into the kami's eyes. "I handled a lot of things. Perhaps I can never fully understand you, but I can at least try, can't I? Don't have to know all your secrets, but I bet I can understand more than you think. I mean, I understood the shop… at least a little bit, and the pets, and that stuff…"

There was a long silence. Since Leon had found D again, the kami had never seemed so far away from him. The first few encounters surfaced in his memory. Back then, D had been like this. Mysterious, far away, untouchable. And cold. But now he was only the first three. He wasn't cold anymore, Leon knew that now. Perhaps he had never been, but he had still a lot of time to find that out.

"Try me," he pleaded quietly. "I'm twenty-nine. I'll be alive for a long time still. I can learn."

D put a slim finger under his chin and raised his head. His beautiful eyes searched something in his, earnest and grave. Leon held still and just concentrated on those colours. Violet and gold. Royal colours. They were made for D.

At last the kami let go of his face. "I know you can learn. In contrast to most humans, you are able to adjust and learn quickly," he said quietly. "Very well then. You will give up smoking and I will share my secrets with you."

"Hey, that wasn't part of the deal!" Leon protested, barely suppressing a grin. There he had it. D, always taking each and every chance he got. And now the eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Perhaps your birthday will be a good day to let you have one," D conceded and smiled up at his lover. Instead of an answer, he bent down and kissed D.

They parted some minutes later, breathing fast and unevenly. "We should look for the flower now," D said uncertainly, and a trace of fear crept up in his eyes. Leon watched it.

"You really are afraid of your grandfather, aren't you?" he asked, not letting D go. The kami nodded and hid his face in Leon's shoulder.

"He is so cold sometimes. Since father left him and me – he concentrated only on his revenge and raised me to do so, too. He hates humans so much. And he hates you."

The slender body started to tremble. "I don't want him to kill you," D whispered with a choked voice. "I do not want you to die, Leon!"

Leon looked down on his face, reading something in there that caused him to draw the kami into his arms more tightly. "Don't worry, D," he murmured. "He's not here yet. And when he arrives, we will handle him."

The kami wrapped his arms around the human and held on for dear life. "I don't want to loose you again, Leon," he choked. "I can't. I could not stand to see you killed by grandfather."

Leon stopped the talking by kissing him, hard. D gasped, and for a second, he almost drew back. But the blonde followed, keeping their mouths together, pressing him as close as he could manage at the same time. D felt something in the larger man's trousers and blushed furiously when he realised what it had to be. But even though he was embarrassed, he was not afraid. Not anymore. He wanted this, had wanted it for a very, very long time.

So instead of drawing back, he pressed into Leon's body as well, causing the blonde to gasp silently. He firmly shoved away any thought about his grandfather, which was surprisingly easy. Here, in Leon's arms, nothing seemed to matter much anymore. Only the human, and D gladly let his world shrink, until only he and Leon were in it.

He deepened the kiss, touched Leon's mouth shyly with his tongue and he parted his lips and let him enter. A soft sigh forced its way out of D's throat. Leon heard it and responded by sucking on his tongue gently. D shuddered. Then he moaned and got completely lost in the feelings.

#

_Like a dream… it was all like in a dream, one of those he had had since he'd met Leon for the first time, those which would leave him breathless and aching for something he could never have… but now he had it, and it was so much better than any of those dreams had been…_

_Hands drawing fiery lines over his body, a hungry mouth, demanding everything he had, but he gladly gave it, put himself at Leon's mercy and was only sad he couldn't give more… the moans and little gasps for air, the desperate try to get even closer than they were…_

_Leon was everywhere, no matter where D turned, but it was not hurting him like it once had been, because now he knew Leon would stay, would be there when he woke in the night, would be there when he needed him, and it still wasn't enough, still wasn't right…_

The kami cried out so loud Leon froze, trying to calm his own breath. "D, you're okay?" he asked, voice croaking. He hadn't used it for quite some time now. But his lover didn't look displeased, rather the contrary. He opened his eyes and the blonde again got lost in a mismatched gaze, glazed over with feelings he'd never known D could have.

"Do not stop, Leon. Never ever," he whispered and drew Leon close, placing a soft bite right where shoulder and neck met. Leon hissed. It was getting too much, far too much –

"It doesn't matter," D murmured in his ear, the stream of air causing the blonde to shiver. "It doesn't matter."

And he was right, damn him again, because it didn't matter, because everything that mattered was _them_, and nothing else, and the fact that they were at last doing what they had longed for for years.

There was no way in heaven, hell or any other place that Leon would ever be able to stop doing that.

And then he stopped thinking and just did what D had asked him to do.

#

The warm body pressed against his was not clothed.

That was the first thing D realised when he woke. Then he got aware that it was dark and cold, and what had woken him was the faint touch of wetness on his skin. For a second he blushed, but then he realised that it had started to drizzle, and that they were in the open with no shelter and not even as much as a blanket.

He jerked up and shook his lover. "Leon, wake up!" he whispered urgently. The blonde stirred, sighed and mumbled something indecipherable. D shook harder. "Leon, we have to get somewhere inside! It's cold and raining, you'll catch your death out here!" he urged and finally Leon opened his eyes tiredly.

"I'm not made of sugar, D. I'll live through some rain. It's you who should be getting somewhere dry," he said dryly.

D considered answering either statement, but decided it was neither the time to tell Leon he was indeed like sugar, though even better, nor the time to start another argument about the kami-don't-get-sick-debate. Instead he grabbed his chemise and trousers and hastily donned them, not caring that they were rumpled. Well, Leon had been rather rough taking them off. Not that D had minded.

"Please hurry up, Leon," he pleaded. "I do not like getting wet." The blonde slipped into jeans and t-shirt, too, but the jacket suddenly was wrapped around D's shoulders. He looked up in surprise, a soft smile gracing his lips. "Thank you, Leon," he said softly.

"Get going," was the only answer and the human led the way down, holding D's hand as he did so. His smile got even brighter. Rude on the outside, but warm and gentle on the inside. Suddenly the kami realised that he was actually glad for that. No one else should see the soft, vulnerable side of his lover. He wanted to keep it to himself, to be the only one who knew him that way.

They hastily climbed down the mountain again, though D debated silently leaving Leon in the dry shop and getting the flower he needed. They had no time for further delay. Grandfather could arrive anytime, and they had lost enough hours, though he certainly not regretted loosing them that way. But still…

The thought trailed off when he saw Leon shudder and hunch his shoulders. "You're cold!" he exclaimed worriedly and wanted to strip off the jacket. But the human's glare stopped him.

"Keep that on, I'm not going to keep watch at your bedside another three days, understood?!"

D wanted to argue, but was cut off by a loud sneeze from Leon. "You are sick, Leon! Why haven't you told me?!" he cried, completely flustered now.

The blonde sniffed and used his sleeve as a handkerchief. "I'm not, stop fussing around."

But D stopped and laid a hand on his forehead, eyes big and worried. "You sure are ill, Leon. You've got fever. Oh my, I should have thought about it – of course you were going to catch my sickness…" he murmured and bit his lip.

The blonde sighed in exasperation. "Yeah, whatever. Let's get somewhere dry and discuss this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the rain's getting stronger."

They hurried back down the mountain, but still when they arrived back in the shop, they were wet to the bones. Ten-chan, Pon-chan and T-chan were already waiting for them inside with towels and worried faces. "Where have you been?!" the raccoon cried out at their sight. "Count, really, you're just recovered, what have you been doing out there so long?!"

Tetsu stepped on her food, growling. "I told you, we are _not_ going to find that out!" he hissed and Leon couldn't suppress an amused grin. Then he sneezed again, four times.

"Bless you!" Ten-chan said and laughed. "I recommend a hot bath and a good night's rest. A caring nurse of course should help you feel better, too, but I think the Count will be more than happy to cover that one."

D blushed furiously. "Ten-chan!"

The nine-tailed fox laughed even louder and swished his tails in delight. "Oh, if I'd known it'd only take a trip into the mountains, I'd have made you two go there years ago," he said and evaded the gentle slap his master was trying to give him. "Have a good night, you two! Remember not to overstrain yourselves, recently recovered and sick people should get at least some sleep!"

"I will cook him if you want me to," Tetsu proposed friendly, but the Count just stalked off to his bedroom, dragging Leon along and murmuring some very nasty things in Chinese.

"No, thank you, T-chan, I will find a way to punish him myself," he said icily and the totetsu had problems not to laugh at his master's enraged and embarrassed face. "Now go get me some warm soup, will you be so kind?"

"Sure, gonna be back in a minute. C'mon, little fella," he said good-humouredly and got Pon-chan at the scruff of her neck. "You don't need to help them get dry, Pon."

The bedroom door was slammed shut. Pon-chan turned accusing eyes up at her friend. "You are mean, Tetsu! Why do you have to tease the Count as well?" she accused and pouted.

T-chan shrugged and grinned. "I wasn't teasing him, I was rescuing your innocence," he lectured his friend and took of to the kitchen to avoid getting hit by her.

#

"Is he asleep?"

Ten-chan carefully stepped inside the bedroom and looked at the human in the bed. The Count turned and smiled at him. "Yes, he is," he answered softly, not daring to speak too loud. "I was blind not to see that I had passed my sickness on to him…"

He sighed deeply and the fox patted him sympathetically. "Don't worry, Count, he'll be alright again soon. It's not like he's as sick as you were," he said and crawled onto the bed to look at Leon. "He looks pretty okay to me, not half as bad as you did when you finally gave in."

The kami smiled. "I do hope he will not need as long to recover as I did."

"Yeah, you've got better things to do than nurse him," Ten-chan conceded with sparkling eyes. His master glared.

"I really should silence you," he said icily, but the fox just rolled onto his back and giggled.

"Don't try it, Count. Everyone knows what happens once one's tasted the sweet temptation. With the exception of Pon-chan and the young ones in here, no one will twit you about it," he soothed.

D sighed, and it was both helpless surrender and worry. "Not you, no," he admitted gloomily. His hand sought Leon's and pressed it tightly. Even though asleep, the human held on to it. Ten-chan watched him alert.

"You're still worried about your grandfather?" he asked and jumped from the bed. The kami nodded.

"He will not be happy, Ten-chan. In fact, he is very angry. I can feel it. We have to go soon if we want to evade him. If it's not already too late…"

#

The Japanese coast was within reach now. Though the little batbunny could fly for weeks on end, it heaved a silent sigh of relief. It was not the exhaustion from the journey it was concerned about, it was the time it had needed to come to Japan. Who could tell if it wasn't already too late? Perhaps his grandson had already fled the country to protect his human pet and left no trace of his departure.

Of course it had been Sofu himself who had taught the youngest how to pull the wool over any pursuer's eyes, but that didn't mean it would be easy to track down the couple. He could only hope his grandson had not yet left. And perhaps the situation wasn't as serious as it looked, though that was unlikely.

Well, there was only one way to find out, and he was going to do just that.

#

D felt the presence at once. He got up from the bed, careful not to wake Leon. For some seconds he hesitated, looking down on the sleeping human in obvious pain. At last he brushed away a strand of hair from the blonde's face, bent down and kissed him.

Then he turned and briskly strode into the front room, knowing the waiting would not tolerate any further delay. He smoothed his black hair and sighed softly when he became aware that he was still wearing the western clothes he had changed into after the rain. But now it was too late.

The familiar figure turned when he entered the front room. Golden eyes scrutinized him. D clasped his hands in front of his body and forced a smile on his face. "Grandfather, welcome. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Sofu D took his time to answer. At last he sat down, casually flicking away his cloak. "Is it a pleasure, my grandson? I wonder."

"Would you care for some tea, grandfather?" D stayed polite. It wouldn't do to get into a discussion with his grandfather. He'd never been able to win one of those. Sofu always had the better point.

"I'd prefer to have sugar in it," the elder said and stopped the kami's movements. He placed the pot on the stove and turned to face his grandfather.

"I always add sugar to my tea, grandfather. And neither have I forgotten that you like it, too," he stated calmly, already anticipating the next words.

"Oh, your little human pet hasn't made you forswear sugar yet?" Sofu D sounded truly surprised. He inspected his long fingernails interestedly, but D knew that he was watching him even though he didn't even look into his direction. He got back to preparing the tea, talking casually.

"No, grandfather, in fact, Leon is taking quite a delight in providing me with sugar. He never forgets to add it to my tea."

T-chan appeared in the door and strode over to him, sending a glance in Sofu D's direction. "Where's Leon?" he asked silently.

D smiled at him. "He was asleep when grandfather arrived. I would rather that he doesn't know about him," he murmured.

The totetsu nodded and vanished again. D was sure he was setting up watch in front of his bedroom now. And though he knew he could protect Leon as long as he was in the pet shop, he felt better. The fact that even T-chan was on his side in this matter made him sure he was doing the right thing.

He carried the tray over to the table and set it down. Sofu D took his cup and sipped delicately. D watched his movements and wondered if he looked just the same when he sipped his tea. And whether Leon would be as enchanted by his grandfather's delicate movements as he obviously was by D's. He would have to ask his lover one day, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. He could almost hear the blonde. _Are you freaking crazy, D?! Your grandfather?! That nutcase wouldn't turn me on if he was standing naked in front of me!_

He chuckled into his cup. Yes, that would probably Leon's reaction. Still, they were so alike, so similar, his grandfather and he… One day, he would have to ask Leon why he loved him. Why he had chosen to follow him, to search him. But for now, just the fact that he had done so was enough. Everything else could wait.

Sofu D startled him when he started to speak, quite casually. "When did he arrive here?" he asked and sat down the cup. D counted.

"About a week ago. I was sick. I didn't realise he was really here. I thought I was dreaming," he answered.

Golden eyes flashed. "Dreaming. Of a human."

D felt his cheeks burn and he bowed his head to hide them. "I dreamed a lot about the detective, grandfather. Ever since I left him."

Sofu D regarded him with a sad expression on his face. "What has happened to you, my grandson?" he asked silently, question rhetorical. Not even D could deny what had happened. "Why did I not protect you better?"

"You have not failed in protecting me, grandfather. It was my own choice." D wondered if he'd ever had a choice, but it seemed like a good thing to say. But the elder only huffed.

"Your choice? No, it never was your choice. This is madness, grandson. Don't you see that? He will destroy you, piece by piece, corrupt you with his human ways, and in the end, he will leave you to live with the pain. Do you really want that?"

D looked down at his lap. He felt the fury behind his grandfather's calm voice, could even understand it. But how was he supposed to live without Leon, when he knew he was alive, somewhere on this planet?

"I do not care if you approve of him or not, grandfather. I only want to have him here. You taught me to love earth's creatures. He is one of them, no matter what faults he may have," he said quietly.

"Do I really have to watch my grandson make the same mistakes Marquis Alexander made?" Sofu D's voice sounded suddenly old. Old and sad. The younger looked up in surprise and saw golden eyes resting on him, pain obvious in them.

"Grandfather," he started hesitatingly, but as quick as the expression had appeared in Sofu D's eyes, it was gone again. Now there was only cold fury left.

"I do not suppose you will be any more reasonable than he was back when he met Isabelle. Perhaps I should consider myself lucky that you can't simply drink your blood and die when he dies?"

His voice was pure acid. D flinched. "Grandfather, I do not intend to kill myself when Leon dies. But I intend to stay with him. If that means I will die with him one day, I will do so. You know the ways our kind can die. Neither Leon nor I can change them."

Sofu D snorted and waved at him. "Yes, of course. This human. He changed you from the day he stepped into the shop. I should have made him stay away from you from the beginning."

D's cheeks burned. "He has not changed me, grandfather!" he stated hotly. "I am who I am, and I won't forget that just because of him!"

"Oh really? Just look at you. It's sickening. Running around in those – those – _unbearable clothes_!" Sofu D spat and D cringed.

"I like them," he defended himself weakly. "And it's not as if I'd wear them everyday. I just felt like wearing them today."

His grandfather looked at him unbelievingly. "Why do you even possess such clothes? If they can be called clothes," he added with acid in his voice. "I bet you bought them because your _dear Detective_ wanted you to!"

"Leon would _never_ make me do anything I don't want to do!" D defended his lover. "I wear them because _I_ like them. Sometimes they just feel nice."

"And because _he_ likes them."

That was hard to counter. He'd have to lie if he wanted to tell his grandfather that Leon's comments about his sweet little ass had nothing to do with wearing jeans. But he made those comments anyway, whether D was wearing his cheongsam or jeans. He just knew that his lover liked him in western clothes and he didn't see any reason why he shouldn't let him have that little joy every now and then.

Sofu D shook his head in despair. "I can't believe my grandson fell for a _human_! And to top it all, _this_ human!" He paced the room and stopped abruptly in front of the younger kami. His eyes pierced D. "If you are not accessible to reason, I will have to command. This will stop immediately. You will tell Leon Orcot to get back to America and stop searching for you. And the moment he leaves the shop, you'll take it somewhere else and forget about him. _Do you understand me?!_"

D tried to stand tall, but it wasn't easy. His legs felt like pudding and he wished that Leon could be here and back him up. But it seemed that he had to face his grandfather alone. Leon was lying in their bed, blissfully unconscious.

Thinking of the sick human, D took a deep breath and stared his grandfather right in the eye. "I will not," he told him clearly, his voice not even shaking. "He searched for me and he found me. He cared for me when I was ill. I will not send him away, grandfather, no matter what you say or do."

They waged a silent war. At last, Sofu D turned, still fuming. "Don't believe this is the end of it!" he threatened. "I will see to it that this ends!"

With that, he left the pet shop and D collapsed onto a chair, breath ragged and trying to hold back tears. Pon-chan climbed onto his lap and snuggled against him. "Don't worry, Count. What can he do? He cannot touch Leon without hurting you at the same time. He'll get around it in time," she tried to soothe, but D shook his head.

"Grandfather'll find a way, Pon-chan, trust me. He'll find a way to separate us," he said hopelessly and missed the meaningful glance Ten-chan sent T-chan.

#

"Why have you called me, little fox?"

The husky voice woke T-chan from his slumber beside the Count's bedroom door. Even if Q-chan wasn't very likely to try anything while his grandson and Leon were asleep, the pets had decided to keep watch. Without either man knowing about it, because they'd also decided that this was something they could handle among themselves. Or, like T-chan had put it: "They've enough to think and worry about, what with Leon being sick and all. We shouldn't bother the Count with that."

Carefully keeping the impression that he was still asleep, the totetsu cracked open an eye and surveyed his surroundings. Ten-chan was kneeling on the floor, in front of him the hooded figure from the alley. The fox's head was bent. "I am sorry to disturb you, Mistress, but it seems that the eldest Count D is not happy with the situation. He is trying to hurt the human and separate them."

There was a pause. The figure seemed surprised. "I just wanted you to know, Mistress," Ten-chan said apologetically. T-chan waited. He was fully awake now and alert to the last nerve in his body. If she even dared to take one step closer to the door of his master, she would be faced with a very, very angry totetsu. And after he'd killed her, he would find out with whom Ten-chan had dealt.

"It was right of you to inform me, little fox." The husky voice shook him from his silent growling. "I will take care of it, do not worry. If the eldest Count D tries to hurt either of them, I will intervene."

Again Ten-chan bowed. "Thank you, Mistress," he murmured.

"There is no need to thank me. It is a matter of principles," she answered. "But I truly did not expect this to be so difficult."

Ten-chan smiled up at her. "The human and the Count have never been easy to deal with," he said. T-chan felt that the figure was smiling beneath her hood.

"None of the D family has ever been easy to deal with, even for me; and humans are what they are. Do not worry. Neither your master nor the human will be hurt."

With that, she vanished so quickly that the totetsu had to blink twice to realise she wasn't there anymore. Ten-chan turned to him and smiled. "Sorry to have woken you," he said easily.

T-chan rose and growled a little. "You want to explain any of this to me? Who is she? What's she got to do with the Count and Leon? And how should she be able to stop Q-chan?"

The nine-tailed fox chuckled and swished his tails. "So many questions, and unfortunately I can't answer even one of them." He tilted his head to the side and thought. "Well, perhaps one. I can tell you that she's very interested in Leon and the Count staying together. And she'll do a lot to ensure this. Personally I've got no doubt that Q-chan'll find it rather difficult to act against her wishes."

T-chan stared. "I should break your neck for talking in riddles all the time."

His friend laughed out loud. "Think, T-chan, think. I'm not allowed to tell you, but it's not that difficult to guess. Only if you do, keep it to yourself, please. The Count and Leon aren't to know, either."

The totetsu opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again. Coiling up on his pillow, he fell into deep thoughts.

#

D had spent another restless night beside Leon. He had woken shortly after his grandfather had left again, and he had been able to hide his confusion and fear from him, mostly due to the fact that Leon was quite feverish and had soon fallen asleep again. But now he knew what he had to do. He could not stay and wait for grandfather to strike. Even having him at their heels while fleeing was better than staying like a rabbit facing the snake. They still had a chance of loosing him somewhere during their escape however small it might be when faced with someone like Sofu D.

So he ordered T-chan to go fetch some things he still needed to move the shop from a shop round the corner. The owner knew D, far better than the kami appreciated, though of course he had never confirmed any of the man's suspicions. Nevertheless, now that he was going to leave, there was nothing lost if he came to the right conclusions. D and Leon would be far away by then anyway, and he didn't intend to return to Tokyo.

Tetsu grumbled, but left at once. D watched him go relieved and returned to Leon's side. Now they would be able to leave in a matter of hours. Get away from grandfather's wrath and into safety.

#

The man moved far quicker than a human could and Tetsu knew he had not sensed him until now. There could be no doubt as to who his attacker was. But unfortunately a surprised totetsu was no match for a prepared kami like Sofu D.

So when D's grandfather caught him, all he managed was to give him some scratches and one poor bite before his throat was pressed together so tightly he saw dancing colours in front of his eyes. While he gasped for air, Sofu D hurried to the alley on the backside of the shop and hid in a corner. His face was contorted in a mask of fury.

"So, grandson, you want to try me, do you?" he murmured grimly. "Well, we will see who the stronger one of us is."

T-chan struggled desperately and cursed himself for not watching out better. Now he could only hope the Count sensed the trap and was sensible enough to leave.

#

"He should be back since half an hour," D said and glanced at the clock worriedly, though he already knew that his totetsu was late. Pon-chan uncurled on the bed beside Leon and looked at the clock, too.

"Where could he be?" she cried. "He knew we wanted to leave once he came back!"

A horrible thought occurred to D and for a moment, his vision went black. Could it be – would grandfather…?!

"I'll look for him," he said decidedly and stood. Ten-chan, sitting on a pile of cushions, shot up and blocked his way.

"No, Count, don't go! Q-chan might be behind this!" he exclaimed, ignoring the shocked gasp from the raccoon. "If he caught T-chan, he wants to lure you into a trap! I'll go and look for him."

"The Count's grandfather would never hurt T-chan!" Pon-chan cried. "He would not, never, wouldn't he, Count?"

Her eyes were huge and frightened. D bent to her and petted her reassuringly. "Do not worry, Pon-chan," he said calmly. "I will bring T-chan back safely, I promise."

"You won't do anything except stay here at Leon's side!" Ten-chan had lost his casual air and glared at him with thin lips. "I'll go."

The kami straightened and shook his head. "No, Ten-chan, I will go. If you are right and grandfather took him for a trap, he won't show up if you come. Plus, it is me who caused all this. I will not abandon T-chan."

"But what about Leon?" the fox protested.

D looked at the human, still asleep, and his face softened. "If something should happen to me, you will have to protect him. As long as you are in the shop, it will be possible, and if you have to leave the shop, you are better suited to keep him safe than anyone else." A secret smile appeared on his lips. "You are a trickster. As long as you are not confronted directly, you will be able to escape my grandfather."

He left before Ten-chan could utter another word and hurried to the front doors. For a moment he hesitated, but his worry got the better of him. T-chan might be in danger, he could not leave him. Leon was safe inside the shop, and if he had to confront grandfather, it might as well be right now.

He could feel the totetsu's presence once outside, but it was faint and distant. The only thing he was sure of was that he had taken the way through the alley at the backside. Perhaps he had been delayed by something, perhaps the shopkeeper had taken longer to prepare D's order. He should at first check there.

Yes, T-chan had definitely been here, and not too long ago. D cast a glance around, stretched his senses, but he could not feel anything else than totetsu. Well, if there was a trap, he was going to find out. And if grandfather had hidden it, then he could anyway not find it before he was inside.

"Tetsu?" D called and stepped further outside into the small alley, glancing around nervously. Where could the totetsu be?

#

The hand around his throat was tight, and there were little stars dancing in front of T-chan's eyes. But he still fought. He couldn't just give up the fight. He knew what was at stake here, and he didn't want to loose it. He didn't want Leon and D to loose it, and it pissed him off to no extend to be used as bait.

"Keep quiet, little totetsu," a cold voice murmured into his ear.

"Why?" Tetsu managed to get out, though Sofu D had to read it from his lips more than actually hear it. His golden eyes were cold as he smiled down on his captive.

"Why not, Totetsu? Don't tell me you won't be happy when Leon disappears again. You have never liked him either," he said and glanced around the corner to see where D was.

_People can change_. T-chan held onto that thought to keep the darkness at bay. _People can change. I have changed my mind as well. And I won't let you get them, if it's the last thing I do!_

He struggled desperately, hoping that Sofu D's attention might have slipped for a moment. But it was no use. The kami just closed his long-nailed fingers more. "Now, you don't want me to break your neck, do you?" he asked sweetly, coldness masked by the false friendliness in his voice. The totetsu couldn't believe it was the same false friendliness his own master had used a long time ago.

"He will not come!" he choked out. The stars exploded behind his eyelids and he thought he was going to faint for sure. But Sofu D wouldn't let him.

"Oh no, my sweet T-chan, not yet. I still need you to call my grandson here," he whispered. "I still need you to distract him, little totetsu. He loves you so much, and is so proud of having you as his pet. You were all he was thinking about for nearly half a year. Aren't you angry Leon took that place in his thoughts? Aren't you envious a mere human took your place in my grandson's heart?"

If Sofu D would just move his other hand within reach. T-chan would gladly bite it off, and he was pretty sure he never would taste anything remotely as good as it.

"Now, my little friend, that's not very kind of you. I am just helping my grandson. What do you think will happen? They are so different, my grandson and this human. All he will do is make him miserable. It is better for him if he forgets him, don't you think so? I'm sure none of you will want to remind him of Leon anymore once he's forgotten him."

Sofu D caressed his head, keeping his hand right out of his reach. T-chan had never felt as frustrated as he felt right now, and he desperately hoped that Ten-chan was correct. That someone with more power than the D family was watching over his master and Leon. Because he for sure had not the slightest clue what he could do to save them. It was as if Q-chan could read his mind and thus keep him from any movement.

"T-chan, where are you?"

He heard D call from the alley and resumed struggling. WTF, as Leon would say now. Perhaps there was a chance he would free himself in time to warn the Count …

"I think my grandson has worried enough about you," Sofu D said casually and gave a nearby bucket a kick. It fell down and made a lot of noise. Tetsu felt like screaming. Only that his throat was pressed together so tightly he could scarcely breathe.

"Tetsu, are you there?"

D's footsteps hurried to the alley. _GO AWAY!_ the totetsu shrieked in his mind. _Go away and take Leon with you! Flee as far as you can, Count!_

Unfortunately his master didn't hear him. He rounded the corner and stopped dead at the sight in front of him. His face paled even further, and his red lips lost their colour. "Grandfather!" he stammered. "What are you – Tetsu…?"

"I thought you would be more willing to talk to me if I had something to convince you to be reasonable," the eldest D said casually and stroked the totetsu's head with just one, long-nailed finger. "Is this human still in your shop?"

At this D's body stiffened. "Grandfather, I have told you. I do not intend to leave Leon again, neither do I intend to make him leave me," he stated, though his voice quivered. His mismatched eyes were wider than usual. Tetsu could sense his fear. He tried to turn in Sofu D's grip to give his master at least a warning that this was a trap, but he was too strong.

"You are really most stubborn, grandson. What have I done to earn such disobedience?" Sofu D asked tiredly. "I am just doing what is best for you."

D's chin set. "Grandfather, I am old enough to know myself what is good for me. I know what I want, and it is Leon. There is nothing you can do about it."

"You think this human is best for you? And what if this human dies one day? What will you do then, grandson?" the kami inquired.

"He won't die for a long time."

The eldest shook his head and sighed. "Have I raised you so worse that you take on the human custom of not thinking about tomorrow, my grandson? Is he worth giving up all that you are?"

"I have not forgotten who I am, grandfather. But Leon is not my duty. He is my love. It is different with him," D answered, so silently T-chan had to strain to hear him. "I will embrace each day I am able to spend with him."

"And hope for a miracle so that he won't die." Sofu D raised an eyebrow. "You cannot mean to do this. It is madness."

The corners of D's mouth quirked without amusement. "It has been said more than once that our kin is kind of crazy, by various people. I think my own father was good proof that we do have a tendency towards madness."

"So you are determined to do this, yes?"

"I am, grandfather."

The eldest regarded the totetsu in his hand solemnly. "Well, well. Too bad I am too warm-hearted to kill your pet to wake you up. Here, take him back!"

With that, he tossed T-chan at the Count, who took a step back in surprise. The totetsu managed to turn in the air, saw his master's wide eyes and screamed.

"Count, RUN! He wants to get you! It's a trap, it's all a trap!"

Then he met D's body, knocking his master to the ground. Sofu D was quicker than a lightning. He knelt beside his grandson before he could recover from his shock and grabbed his face with both hands, staring into his eyes intently.

"And now, my grandson, I will see that your madness is cured," he said, the cruel smile again on his red lips. The door to the shop burst open. Excited voices could be heard coming closer. T-chan, still dizzy with the lack of air and the sudden impact, made out Leon's and tried to come to his senses again, knowing he had to defend his master.

"Oh, your human is coming to your rescue. How sweet of him. And how foolish." Sofu D's smirk grew really mean. "What could a human possibly do to me? But he can watch what happens to you, grandson. And then I will take care of him."

"Don't touch Leon!" D gasped and feebly tried to fight off his grandfather's hands. But they were vicelike around his face. Golden eyes caught his own, and with terrible fear he realised what his grandfather planned to do. "No! Leave me alone!"

"D! What's happening? Where are you?"

Leon's steps were coming closer. Sofu D looked triumphant. "And now, my grandson, it is your time to forget," he breathed. The gold started to whirl, drawing D into depths so deep he knew he would never be able to come out of again. With all of his strength he fought against the spell, fought against forgetting. But the gold was stronger than he was.

"Forget. Forget!" his grandfather chanted into his ear. D's eyes rolled upwards in an attempt to look away from the gold, but it was there also, waiting for him. There was nowhere to hide from grandfather's wrath. Nowhere.

"D! Get away from him, you asshole!"

Who was that calling? Why did the voice sound so familiar? But the gold lured him, told him not to worry about the voice anymore, or the one the voice belonged to, just to concentrate on it and forget. Forget… drown in that golden sea… so much more beautiful than the blue sea he had once loved to look into…

"NO!" With the greatest effort of his live, D pushed his grandfather away from him, panting hard, tears streaming down his face. "NO!! I won't forget him! Never! Leave!"

The face of his grandfather was torn by rage. He extended his claws again to grab D, but the kami scooted away as good as possible, hauling T-chan with him. "Leave us be!" he yelled. "Else I will – I will kill you, I swear!"

"You will never kill me. I am the one who raised you, who gave you life," Sofu D said coldly and approached him again. D felt someone at his back, a warm body. Leon clutched him from behind, seeking to protect him. The eldest' eyes flickered to him. "Oh, now, this is just ridiculous. Let us end this whole affair in the way it is best for all. I will make you both forget. And if you insist, I will even let your human pet live, grandson. But not with you," he said irritably.

D shook his head and clung to Leon's hand. "Never, grandfather."

Again rage flare in those golden eyes. With just one step, Sofu D was in front of him. "Then I will have to force you," he hissed.

D reacted without thinking. He just extended his arms, pushed as hard as he could, wanting to remove his grandfather from him and Leon.

Next thing he knew, the sky had cracked open. A lightning as blinding as the sun shot down to the earth. It reached the spot to where Sofu D had stumbled, enveloping his body in a flash of pure, hurting light. He screamed.

And then he was gone.

#

"Grandfather?"

It came out as a horrified whisper. D disengaged himself from the human's grasp and crawled towards the black spot where Sofu D had just been.

"Grandfather?"

Then realisation hit. D sank down onto his knees, not sure whether to be glad or to weep. He felt so confused. He held up his hands for inspection. _What… how?!_

Somewhere in his mind he registered that a lot of the pets had left the shop with Leon to look for him and T-chan and were now stumbling around, too, stunned by the light. He also felt T-chan. The totetsu wasn't hurt. Just angry. And stunned as well.

A sound behind him made him come to his senses at least a little bit. Leon cleared his throat and stared at his lover. "Wow. That was – pretty impressive," he remarked. The pets were still trying to recover from the lightning. The kami crouched on the floor, looking at his hands incredulously.

"D?" the blonde asked and knelt down beside him. "You okay? What's the matter?"

Slowly D looked up at him, eyes confused. "That wasn't me, Leon," he told him blandly. "I am not able to do that."

The human searched Ten-chan's eyes, but the fox shook his head and shrugged. "None of us, either," he said. Leon wrinkled his brow.

"Well, then… I guess you've got some friend up there liking you very much," he suggested. His lover tilted his head to the side.

"None that I knew of," he said hesitatingly. "Grandfather always kept me away from other kami pretty much."

He was still working through what had just happened. But when Leon sneezed beside him, he woke completely at last. "Oh my!" he exclaimed. "Leon! What are you doing out here? You should be in bed!"

Everyone present except the Count rolled their eyes at this. "You're the right one to talk, Count," T-chan voiced what everybody was thinking and his master glared at him.

"Let's get you inside," he said to Leon and slung an arm around his shoulders. "You'll catch your death out here in the rain!"

They disappeared inside the shop, D fussing about Leon and the pets cracking jokes in low voices. Ten-chan was the last to step inside. He paused for a moment, looking up at the sky and smirking. "Bet that was you," he murmured. There was no answer, but he hadn't expected one anyway. "Well, that should ensure their safety, I think. And take good care of Sofu D."

"Ten-chan, you're coming?" Pon-chan called from inside, still giggling at a joke. The nine-tailed fox hurried in and closed the door.

"So, who's in for some games?" he asked and rubbed his hands expectantly. The pets yelled in delight.

He caught T-chan's eye. The totetsu looked thoughtful. Ten-chan winked at him, grinned and formed words with his mouth.

"I told you she'd be on our side."

The totetsu grinned and winked back.


	12. Epilogue: Item

-sigh- I can't believe this is really, truly finished now. Good lords, I started working on this somewhere in May? June? I don't remember any more, could've been April, too. Anyways, it was a constant companion during some months, and now it's finished at last.

I really, really want to thank you all for reading. It is great to know my story is appreciated, and I am so glad you took the time. Thank you again, especially the ones who left a review. I won't write down all the names here, you know who you are, but let me tell you how grateful I am you took the time to tell me you liked 'Terrible Tea'. If I knew how I could thank you personally, I would. If you've got any suggestions, please tell me ;-)

And then I've got to thank some other people, who would be my brother, my best friend and my dearest fellow student, on whose nerves I constantly went working out the plot and discussing the various scenes that caused problems. You were a great help, thank you for that!

Well, and now I hope you have fun with the epilogue. If you've got questions or anything else to tell me, do it, I promise I will answer mails and pms as soon as possible.

Thank you, Enaty :-)

Item

A silent chuckle made its way from her throat. Smiling, Destiny stood and glided from her big crystal shard to the door. But before she reached it, it was flung open and crashed into the wall with force.

"Why, hello Count!" she chuckled, welcoming the Chinese with open arms. "Feel at home in my humble house!"

He didn't even deign to answer. Fuming angrily, he strode over, beautiful face torn with rage. "You!" he hissed and pointed straight at her, forgetting his manners.

If she was used to anything, it was people who were unhappy with their kismet. So Destiny just kept on smiling and gracefully sat down again, placing her arm on the armrest of the chair. "Count D, you knew the contract. I don't understand why you are so angry now. Please, calm down and explain to me."

Perhaps it was because he didn't want to embarrass himself any more, but Sofu D complied and sat down, lips drawn into a tight, white line. "I do know the terms of the contract," he admitted through gritted teeth. "But you are not following them, Destiny."

Mildly astonished Destiny lowered her head. "I am, Count D. One of you to do with as I please every once in a while, that was what I demanded for altering the fate of your kind. That was my offer and you accepted it."

Again Sofu D lost his composure and pointed at her with a trembling finger. His voice cracked with anger. "Yes, and you chose my son. Not my grandson. So I want you to revoke what has happened the last few weeks in my grandson's pet shop and send that – that – _unbearable_ _American_ back to his home country and make him never touch my grandson again!"

Destiny pursed her lips. "I cannot," she simply said.

Count D seemed to burst with anger. "Why not?" he snarled.

"Because I did indeed choose your son as my price. But instead of doing what I had wanted him to, he fled and declined my offer for his fate. I may be ruler, but I tend to let my toys have a say in their fate. It makes things so much less complicated," Destiny explained with amiable calm while Sofu D fumed in front of her.

"You see, I then had to choose another one of your kind. And I did. I am very sorry, Count D, but both your grandson and his human lover are mine to do with as I please. Or would you rather breach the terms of the contract?"

Only the slightest hint of threat was in her voice, but Sofu D calmed down remarkably. "No, I do not," he said with a husky voice and cleared his throat.

Destiny's smile grew. "I thought as much."

"Still, why did you make those two fall in love?" he demanded, newly enflamed. Destiny looked shocked.

"I beg your pardon, Count D. I did of course not!"

He glared daggers at the goddess of fate. "You made them fall in love with each other, don't deny it."

Destiny fanned herself with her hand. "I may have some powers over the hearts of mortals, but I do not have the power to make them love. So yes, I did send Leon Orcot to your grandson, but no, I did not expect him to fall in love with the youngest D. Neither did I expect the latter to lose his heart to this brash human."

Smiling mildly, she added, "But they do make such a nice couple, don't you think so?"

The Count's only answer was another glare. He stood, took his cape and stormed out, slamming the door again behind him. Destiny smirked.

"Come back when you have cooled down," she called after him and turned back to her crystal shard, humming slightly. "Let's see how your cold's doing, Leon," she murmured and went back to watching her toys.

She didn't have to wait long. Hiding her smile behind her hand, she indicated one of the chairs. "They are nearly asleep," she told him. "I will summon them up here when they are, but I am afraid they are busy yet…"

Sofu D glared. "I do not wish to know," he said stiffly and the goddess chuckled.

"Shame on you, Count D! They are only talking. The day has been strenuous for both of them, and Leon is still ill."

"I do not care," he cut her off. "Let's get this done so I can leave again."

A mocking smile played around Destiny's lips. "Oh, but Count D, you know what I will have to do when they concede. Don't you want to try to keep them apart again?"

The eldest D looked to the side and didn't answer. Destiny's smile became soft. _I cannot make anyone love. You all do it on your own, whether you want to or not._

#'#

A last, sleepy kiss, snuggling into strong arms, against a large, warm body, that was all it took for D to fall asleep. Gods knew the day had been adventurous enough. He glided off into the embrace of dreams gladly…

…only to awake a few seconds later again. Or at least it felt like he was awake, though he knew that the strange surroundings couldn't be anything else than a dream. His breath became harsh, and he looked around wildly. There it was, the crystal dome, looming over him threateningly. He was not mistaken. This was – not a dream, and yet, not reality either…

"D? Where are we?"

The kami spun round and met Leon's confused blue eyes. His breath stopped for a second. "Leon, do not talk!" he whispered and glanced around. The blonde stood up from the earth on which he'd been sitting and looked around, too.

"What's the matter? Where are we? What's going on?" he demanded. D pressed one slender hand over his mouth.

"Please Leon, be silent!" he pleaded. "We have to leave at once – it is dangerous here…"

Leon stared at the kami, freaked out before him. He'd seen D do many things, most of them unbelievable for a human being. Only a few hours ago he had watched his grandfather get grilled by a damn lightning. But never had his eyes had this wild, scared expression as they had now.

So when D took his hand from his lips and instead grabbed one of his to lead him away, he followed without protest. But they didn't come far. A bell rang, loud and clear. D froze. He paled even more, fuelling Leon's worry up again.

"What's the matter, D?! Tell me, for fuck's sake!" he yelled. The kami shook his head and turned around, grasping Leon's hand so tightly it hurt.

"It is too late anyway. She has noticed us," he said with white lips. "Let us not wait for our judgement, Leon."

The mysterious words silenced the blonde again, and he followed his lover to a great portal. It looked like it was made out of a crystal, but it was much bigger than any crystal could be. Leon leaned his head back and looked up at the bow. The material caught the light and glittered in the strange, soft light flowing around here, though he couldn't see any kind of sun. Awe made him whisper.

"Who has noticed us, D?"

The kami didn't meet his eyes as he led him through the gate into the dome and up a stairway, carved out of the same crystal substance as the gate, but glittering a darker shade.

"She. The ruler of humans' lives. Fate, Destiny. Kismet. Whatever you want to call her."

"She's a friend of yours?" Leon gaped at his lover, ready to believe anything. D never ceased to surprise him.

But the kami shook his head and bit his lip. "We have never met," he said and wouldn't venture further, even though Leon tried to make him.

They walked through some halls, all made of crystal. Leon thought he could discern shadows on the walls, but they were gone so quickly he wasn't sure he had even seen them. But another thing he saw quite clearly, and that was that everywhere in those halls, threads were stretched, glittering like wet cobwebs in the morning sun. And he could swear they were humming slightly.

"Well whoever she is, she should clean up sometime," he said into the silence.

D glanced at him and smiled ever-so-slightly. "Oh Leon, you are truly one in a million. Those are the threads of destiny. If one should destroy them, one would end the live and evolution of every creature under Destiny's judgement."

"Oh," Leon said intelligently. "That means I've got one of those somewhere in here, too? What about you?"

Again D bit his lip. "I am not human," he said and fell silent again. They had reached a great door, glittering a dark blue, carved with many strange symbols Leon couldn't make out, though he was pretty sure some of them were old Germanic runes. He'd once seen some rune stones in the museum and stood before them for quite some time, fascinated by the secret code behind those signs.

But before he could take a closer look at the ornaments, the doors separated and a grave voice bade them enter. D hesitated and looked like he wanted to turn and run away, but now Leon was curious. He stepped inside, dragging the reluctant kami with him. He'd awaited a throne or something similar for the goddess of fate, but instead there was just a group of chairs with a small table, almost like in the pet shop. Two figures were sitting on them, but he couldn't quite make them out in the strange light…

Beside him, D gasped with shock. "Grandfather!" he exclaimed and gripped Leon's hand so tight the blonde winced. "What are you – no, do not do this, please, I beg you…!"

One of the figures stood and came closer, becoming Sofu D in the process. Leon growled and stepped before D. "What do you want?"

The eldest D smiled a pleasant smile and bowed slightly, but his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Welcome, dearest grandson. What a pleasure to meet you again, Orcot-san, face-to-face this time. I have to say, crouching on the floor was rather unfavourable for the both of you."

Leon's eyebrows drew together threateningly. "Stop sweet-talking and get to the point. What are you doing here? Trying to talk some other god in helping you separating us? Well, I've gotta tell you, it won't work. I'm with D now and I'll stay with him, no matter what you do."

"Oh, such ferocious words! You surely do your name credit, Leon-san." Sofu D smirked and turned to the still dumbfounded D. "And you, my grandson, have you forgotten your manners? Will you not greet me in the proper way? Not to speak of our host."

He gracefully waved a hand in the direction of the other figure, still sitting in her chair and watching them. Now she stood, too. "Please, come closer and sit down," she said. Leon tried to read in her voice, but found he wasn't able to. One second it was deep and like a grown-up's, the next high and childish, though strangely, it sounded melodically in spite of the crass differences. He tugged at D's hand and walked right past Sofu D, ignoring him deliberately.

As they came nearer, D seemed to regain some of his wits again. He smoothed out his hair and bowed deeply when they finally had reached the goddess. "Destiny, it is an honour meeting you," he murmured politely. The woman – for she was very clearly a woman, even though her shape seemed to waver somehow – smiled back and motioned to the chairs.

"It is my pleasure meeting you, youngest Count D," she said. Sofu D sat down in the same chair he had occupied when they had entered. After a suspicious glance at him, Leon shook his head. He preferred to stand in case the old man tried something.

Destiny smiled at him. "Leon, I assure you, the eldest Count D will not hurt you or his grandson. In fact, it was me who summoned you both up here. I have to ask the youngest one a question."

"Destiny, please just tell them that you won't separate them," Sofu D cut in and the goddess shot him an angry glance. "Let's not prolong this too much. I have a child to look after, and I guess I will be seeing my grandson and the detective quite often, considering that they are living in my pet shop." He glared at the smug goddess pretending not to smile. "And I still have to recover from being hit by a lightning, because _someone _had to resort to dramatic effects again."

It took some moments for his words to sink in. But then realisation hit.

"But – but," D stuttered and sat down heavily, glancing at his grandfather. "I thought – the way you acted – you were so angry with me taking Leon in…"

His voice trailed off, thoroughly confused. Leon stood behind him, placing his hands possessively on his lover's shoulders and glaring at both goddess and kami. Sofu D sighed and sent a weak glance at his conspirator. "I was, my grandson. I am still not entirely convinced this is right. But unfortunately, I am outnumbered on the question whether you and the detective should stay together."

"Oh, Count, you are not outnumbered," Destiny chirped, obviously enjoying herself. "It is not as if D and Leon had a say in this. I simply have the better hand, so to say."

He tweaked one eye and glared at her. Leon cut in, not happy with what he was hearing. "Wait a moment, whaddya mean, we've not got a say in this? We're the fucking couple you're talking about!"

His blue eyes blazed angrily. The goddess turned towards him and answered amiably. "Well, as a matter of fact, you do not have a say in these matters. You see, you are human. You do belong to me. I am the one that weaves your life. So I decide whether you and the youngest Count get to stay together or not."

"Do you mean, you made me fall in love with him?" the blonde demanded hotly. A tight feeling around his heart made D gasp with sudden pain.

Destiny looked surprised, and strangely amused, while Sofu D huffed and pointedly looked away. "No, of course not, Leon. I am the goddess of fate, not of love. I can merely send someone your way with whom you might fall in love with under certain circumstances. I don't decide whether you actually fall in love or not, although it is me again who sets your path from the moment you have fallen in love with someone. I weave the treads outside of the relationship and see what happens."

Leon's grip relaxed. D could suddenly breathe again, though his head was spinning. He didn't really understand what the goddess was talking about. But then, he should know that godly affairs usually were quite complicated. Understanding another god's duties took more time than five minutes and a quick explanation.

"Why did you say then that you are the one who decides what happens to us? What about me? I am not human," he asked weakly and pressed Leon's hand, receiving an equally strong grip.

She brightened. "Oh, you are something special, youngest D! As a spirit, I have no power over your life and path, sadly. If it wasn't for an old contract…" She smirked at the eldest who looked pretty displeased. "You see, your kind was out of my reach for centuries. But then your ancestor was dying, and he pledged me to change his fate. I couldn't do that, of course. It is not in my hands to change a spirit's fate. Not as long as he wants to stay out of my grasp…"

Leon understood at once, while D still looked kind of shell-shocked. "You're seriously saying that from the moment on that Count D back then gave himself into your hands, you could also change his fate?" he asked incredulously. "Come _on_!"

"I am afraid it is just like she said," Sofu D cut in, even more displeased by the fact the discussion went without him. "Not completely, though. She can only lay her hands on certain members of our family. She chooses whom she takes as her own. We do not get a say in this."

D gasped. "You never told me that, grandfather!" he cried out, eyes wide and a little spooked. Sofu D shifted on his chair, a movement so small it was nearly invisible, but Leon was used to seeing those. He smiled cruelly. Someone was having a bad conscience here.

"I did not think it would be necessary to tell you. She had chosen your father, but he apparently was not happy with what she planned for him and talked her into choosing you instead." He sent a displeased glare at the goddess. D uttered a soft "Oh!", as if understanding something only now. Sofu D continued, anger making his voice quiver. "I did not know about this development. If I had, I surely would have done something about it."

"But you did not know," Destiny cut in and beamed. "And I have to admit, it was a good decision. I am so happy for you both! All this excitement, the adventures you had to go through to find your love, it was fantastic!"

She smiled brightly at them. Leon looked back, thinking, _She's even more nuts than D's family is_.

A squeeze told him that his lover shared his opinion.

"So, what will you do then?" he asked out loud, heart pounding in his chest. The goddess tilted her head to the side, looking surprised.

"Why should I do something? I am done with you. You were such a great amusement during the last years, but I'm afraid now it's over." She sighed disappointed. "Romances are great as long as there's still the question of how it will work out, but since you're a couple now, there is no more tension."

_Nuts doesn't even come close. Completely out of her mind would be more fitting._

"If so, what are the plans for us now?" he asked grimly, keeping his hands firmly on D's shoulders. There was no way in hell he was going to let the kami go again. "Just see if we break up again when some complications come along?"

Destiny looked kind of piqued at Leon's question. "I am not a fortune teller, Leon. I cannot tell you what your future will look like. I do not really know myself."

D felt Leon's body tighten behind him, and he understood his human resented the idea that someone else might make decisions for him. He firmly grasped his lover's hand, trying to get his attention. "Leon, this is not a real place," he said silently. "Destiny is not a person, unlike me, and neither is she a goddess in the sense of the word. She is –" he searched for a word, but couldn't come up with one. She answered herself.

"I am what you decide, Leon. I am the chain of events that leads to some special point, and I am what results. I am both decision and the one who decides. I am the cobweb that is made up of thousands of humans' decisions and at the same time, I weave that web. I do not expect you to understand. It is kind of symbiotic. To really explain would reveal my very being, but to really understand me would mean death for you. Leave me as the mystery I am, and be glad you've been given the chance to live with your spirit."

Grasping complicated explanations had never been Leon's strong point. So he simply decided he would let it go for this time. Perhaps it wasn't too bad to leave things up to the goddess not-goddess. So far she'd been on their side.

"Still," she continued, "there is something very important I have to ask both of you. While the youngest D can indeed be influenced by me, he is not completely under my judgement."

Strange eyes scrutinized human and kami, not unfriendly, but distant. "You will have to make a decision. Spirits and humans are not meant to be an item. They are not meant to have their fates intertwined. If you truly wish to stay together, you have to bow under my judgement completely, of your own free will, youngest D."

Her eyes wandered to Leon, gripping his lover tightly. "While you, Leon, will have to admit your fate being intertwined with the youngest D's fate. Do not rejoice too early! It will mean you will never be able to part from the youngest D, no matter what you do, whether you love or hate him until your death. Wherever you go, the intertwined fates will make you meet again. Think about it. Ask yourself if you are willing to accept this for the rest of your life."

"There's nothing to think about," Leon replied gruffly. D in front of him seemed to have stopped breathing. "I didn't look for him all over the world for the chance that he's gonna vanish again. If he's bound to me, fine with me. Will make sure he can't run away again."

For the first time since he knew him, a spark of reluctant acceptance appeared in Sofu D's eyes. "Human, you do no know what you are committing to," he said warningly. "It means that if my grandson dies, you will die with him and vice-versa. Having your fates intertwined means you can never live your own life again."

"Yeah, so what? I've been putting up with your dearest grandson for two years. Should be able to do it till my death, too." Leon shrugged casually. D's hands gripped his hard.

Destiny smiled. "Very well, Leon. But what about you, youngest D? Are you willing to sacrifice your spirit independence for this human? Die when he dies?"

Leon stared at his lover. "I won't blame you if you say no," he said roughly. "I mean, it's eternal life for you. You might want to have some choice if it doesn't work out with us."

D smiled shyly and pressed a kiss to Leon's hand. "Of what use would eternity be for me if it was empty?" he said softly. "No, Leon, I do not long to live forever. But you might want to give up your birthday cigarette now that you're responsible for my lifetime, too."

His mismatched eyes danced, and Leon grinned at him lopsidedly, feeling completely overwhelmed. "Guess I'm stuck with you now, ain't I?"

Could it be he had never noticed how happy D could look?

"Yes, I am afraid you are, Detective," he said and looked at Destiny watching them attentively. The goddess smiled and D noticed she was holding two glittering cobweb-threads in her hand.

"Well, then I wish you that you won't regret your decision." Her fingers were intertwining the threads busily, weaving them into an item. "I wish you much joy in your lives…"

The crystal hall faded away even as she was talking. D reached through the darkness and found Leon there, beside him. He grasped his hand and felt the invisible thread that would hold them together from now on. He knew Leon felt it too, felt the reassuring warmth of the human and knew he would never have to miss it from this day on.

_My fate to your fate. An item for as long as we will live._

-End-

P.S. For those of you who are interested, I've got another story I will start posting soon. -hint- It will not be a continuation of 'Terrible Tea', but a whole new storyline. I hope some of you will have a look at it, too. I would be very happy if I met you again in "Unwanted" -smiles-


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